The Taming of the Cat
by Michelle Sinclair
Summary: A Fruits Basket Regency Romance. Exhausted fugitive Tohru Honda stumbles upon a stranger who offers her shelter in his home-which turns out to be a mansion filled with people who remind her of different animals. What's a young lady to do?
1. Look What the Dog Dragged In

**Well this is my first time writing fan fiction, so I hope it entertains anyone gracious enough to spend time reading it. Comments, suggestions, and/or critiques are all welcome! **

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is not mine, it is the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

The Taming of the Cat: a Fruits Basket Regency Romance

Chapter 1: Look what the Dog dragged in

Tohru clung to the gelding's neck, praying for a sign of shelter beneath the darkening sky. Loose strands of brown hair whipped around her face. Endless fields of green mocked her search for shelter. A hut, a barn, a grove of trees...she didn't care what she found as long as she and her horse could be safe from lightning and mostly dry.

But after tonight, well, she'd have to stop running sometime. Stolen vegetables and berries scavenged on the road would only sustain her for so long. Was it paranoia to think she hadn't gone far enough?

Hooves pounded the packed dirt of the road behind her. "Hoa there!" a man's voice called above the rising wind.

Tohru tensed. She groped for Bellsire's reins, cursing the hunger that dulled her reflexes.

"Miss!" The rider appeared at her side. He swung down from his mount and caught her horse by the bit. "Miss, are you hurt?"

Fearing she'd see a long, hooked nose and gaunt cheeks, Tohru forced herself to look up.

He was tall, elegant and strikingly handsome for a man his age, which had to be close to forty. With his black hair and perfectly formed nose, the stranger bore no resemblance to the man who murdered her father. Tohru sighed. "No, sir. I'm not hurt."

His answering smile was so warm and joyful her delirious mind carried her back home—to memories of the vicarage and the slobbery welcome of Papa's old wolfhound.

_But what good is a welcome without Papa?_

Her last scrap of strength deserted her and she succumbed to the darkness.

A gentle swaying motion roused Tohru to open her eyes. Her nose filled with the scent of cologne, and a white starched neckcloth tumbled just inches from her face. She looked up into the dancing eyes of the stranger and realized with a start that he was carrying her up the steps of a building. She couldn't see the entire structure, but the soaring marble columns and carved mahogany door told her this was no cottage.

"Ah good. You're awake." Still smiling, the man set her down just outside the door. He winked. "Won't do to upset the countess by carrying you over her threshold."

Countess? Tohru blinked, wondering if fainting had affected her hearing. And her eyesight. "You've brought me to a countess?" Her thoughts began to smooth and pick up speed. "But I'm not fit, look at my dress, and my hair, and oh, where is Bellsire? I have to keep moving, I—"

The smiling man laughed and held a finger over his mouth. "What you need is some food, a bath and a warm bed." He placed his other palm on the door. "And whether the countess likes it or not, you shall have them." Casually, he shoved the door open and gestured her to step into the brightness beyond.

Awestruck, Tohru obeyed and found herself in a little half-landing before a short set of steps. Hundreds of candles lit the corridor. The sound of the door closing behind her made her heart give a frightened thump. This man was more than twice her age, but did that mean she was safe?

He bounded up the steps and turned, grinning. Why did he keep reminding her of a dog? "Come now," he said. "I assure you, I don't bite."

Tohru mustered a shaky smile and lifted the hem of her hopelessly ruined dress to climb the stairs.

"Shigure, is that you?" The voice rang through the hall. A moment later, a woman appeared beneath the vaulted arch of a softly lit room. Her features were not particularly feminine, though the fine-boned structure of her face did lend a certain fragility to her otherwise imperious presence. Her gown of green silk contrasted with the rubies glittering in her dark hair. With a sinking heart, Tohru knew this was the countess.

The woman's eyes swept Tohru from head to toe, then speared the man with a look. "Who is this?"

"I haven't the faintest idea," the man, Shigure laughed. "Do you think she'll fit one of your nightgowns?"

"One of my—" One perfectly sculpted eyebrow climbed to a dangerous arch. "Hundsford. Surely, you're not suggesting she—"

"Oh Hundsford, now am I? Don't get your feathers in a twist. The girl needs a bit of kindness. When I found her, the poor thing nearly fell off her horse in a dead faint."

"Nearly?" The countess's eyes narrowed. "You didn't _catch_ her, did you?"

"But I'm sure Mrs. March will see she's cared for properly, so you needn't worry."

A woman in swishing black skirts materialized from somewhere behind Tohru and bowed to Shigure. "Very good, milord. Will there be anything else?"

Startled, Tohru looked again at the man Mrs. March addressed as 'milord'. His elegance of dress, his confident manner and lack of ceremony around the countess...her smiling, dog-like stranger was an earl!

"Yes, actually," the earl said, tapping one long finger on his chin. "Have some brandy sent to the library. The countess will want to have a lively debate, and I simply _cannot_ perform to her expectations without refreshment."

Beneath the drooping lace of her cap, Mrs. March's face betrayed no reaction. "Indeed, milord. You will have it at once." She turned to Tohru. "Miss...?"

"H-Honda," Tohru said. "Tohru Honda."

"Miss Honda, then. This way, please."

With a quick glance back at the earl, Tohru climbed the steps behind the housekeeper in silence. She had a hundred questions, but she was too tired and polite to plague this woman with them.

Thus bathed, clothed and fed, the fugitive Tohru Honda slipped beneath the covers of an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar house and thanked her guardian angel for deliverance. Tomorrow would be another trial, but for tonight, she was happy.


	2. The Catman Cometh

**A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! I'm trying to get these out fairly quickly, but just post in the reviews section if I get too slow about it. Thanks for reading :-)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. It is the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

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Chapter 2 The Catman Cometh

Tohru's eyes fluttered open. Sunlight streamed through sheer white curtains, casting the whole room in a cheerful yellow glow. Tohru smiled to herself and traced a bit of lace on the pillowcase with her finger. For the first time in four days, she felt safe.

Whispers broke through the stillness of the room. Her pulse jumped in her throat. For an awful moment, she sensed eyes on her back. Had the murderers found her, even here?

"No, Hiro, don't!" It was the gentle scold of a child.

Tohru exhaled. Should she turn and let them know she'd heard them? Or listen awhile longer. On a mischievous impulse, Tohru closed her eyes and rolled to face the door, nuzzling her face against the covers as if she was still asleep. She peeked through her lashes.

A boy with chestnut hair knelt on the floor behind a chair. His bold gaze seemed surprising in one who couldn't be more than seven years old. Behind him, a tawny-haired girl leaned around the doorframe. She bit a knuckle as her eyes flew from the boy to Tohru and back again. A year or so older, if Tohru guessed correctly.

The boy shushed the girl, then scooted around the chair to duck behind the nightstand. Slowly, he rose until he could peer over the little table's surface.

Tohru opened her eyes wide. "Good morning."

"Ah!" The boy flailed backward. He crashed into a hat stand, which fell over him in a tumble of feathers and tulle. While he picked his way out, Tohru sat up and stretched.

The girl had vanished.

"I'm sorry to have scared you," Tohru ventured, somewhat alarmed by the belligerent scowl on the boy's face as he rose to his feet. "I always wake up rather quickly."

The boy snorted. "I wasn't scared."

"Well, I must have startled your friend. She ran away."

"Nah, she's probably disappointed you turned out to be so boring. Bye." He mimicked the stiff bow of an adult and swaggered out of the room.

Bewildered, but smiling in spite of herself, Tohru swung her legs out of the bed covers and searched the room for her dress. Last night, Mrs. March had said she'd have it cleaned for her, even gave Tohru one of her own nightgowns to wear. It had been very kind of her, but this morning, no sign of Tohru's own sprigged muslin dress remained.

A chambermaid brushed through the open door carrying a steaming pitcher. She poured the hot water into the washbasin, then fixed the drapes back from the windows. Tohru jumped up from her bed. "Oh don't bother with that, I can do it." She took the other side of the sheers and tucked them through a tieback, then turned to the maidservant with a smile. "Now, what else can I do?"

To her astonishment, the woman gave a disapproving sniff and strode from the room. Tohru blinked. She'd grown up with a few servants, but they were always too busy to bring her hot water and draw her drapes back for her. What was so wrong about helping?

Then a second woman with ruddy cheeks appeared bearing a serviceable grayish blue gown. She helped Tohru dress and would have scraped her hair back into a stiff bun if Tohru hadn't assured her she could do her hair herself. She wound her brown tresses into a soft coil and swept her bangs to either side of her forehead. Apparently, this kind of work was more acceptable, because the maid merely said it would do, and led her down for breakfast.

They traveled down a side stair—a dark, sloping passage that made Tohru glad her shoes had good soles—and emerged in a vestibule by a door leading to the outside. Across, the door to the kitchen stood open, emitting banter and clacking crockery right along with the glorious scent of sizzling bacon.

"Master Yuki, you needn't see to it straightaway—before you've had your breakfast, even. I only said—"

A smooth tenor voice interrupted the woman. "Now Mrs. March, just because I don't mind the little intruders near my food doesn't mean the countess wants them anywhere near the house. I'm always glad to help."

As Tohru followed the maid into the kitchen, the owner of the voice came into view. She stared.

He was slender for a man, with pale, almost lavender hair over eyes the color of a storm-cloud sky. Tohru never realized it was possible for a man to be so lovely. The crisply tailored points of his coat bespoke a man of fashion, but neither his dove gray waistcoat nor his ivory pantaloons pushed him too far into the realm of dandyism. He walked a tightrope, and he walked it well.

Realizing she'd been staring, Tohru dropped her gaze to the floor's red clay tiles.

"Miss Honda," the housekeeper said, "we've set a place for you here at our table. Come and eat."

"Who is this?" the young man said in his musical voice. Tohru flushed.

"The earl found her on the road last night. Go on, Master Yuki. They'll miss you at breakfast."

"My uncle? Did he say she should eat in the kitchens?"

"Well, not precisely..."

"Then this morning, she will dine with us. What is your name, Miss?"

Tohru dared another glance. She found a distant smile lighting his features. "I'm Tohru Honda, but please don't put yourself out for me. I'm only—"

"Miss Honda." He offered her his arm and his smile warmed ever so slightly. "Will you join me?"

Something about his calm demeanor told Tohru she wouldn't be committing a major social error. She asked Mrs. March to be excused but the woman only shrugged and said, "Whatever Master Yuki wishes."

He took her to a breakfast room larger than the vicarage's entire first floor. When they entered, the earl looked up from his paper. Slowly, he lowered the paper and slid back in the chair. A long gray leg stretched out beneath the table cloth. His eyelids slid to half-mast. "So...Yuki's already plucked my fallen apple."

"Don't be absurd. March was going to feed her in the kitchens, but it's obvious she's no maidservant." Mr. Yuki dislodged her hand from his arm and handed her into a chair. Tohru suppressed a shiver. He seemed nice, but there was a coldness in him that grew more pronounced in the earl's presence. She wondered how he knew she was of gentle birth. Her gown was of the simplest, most unadorned fabric and probably belonged to Mrs. March. She hadn't said a word before Mr. Yuki invited her to eat with him, so he'd not made the judgment based on her genteel accent.

Something crashed out in the hall. "Where the devil is that goddamned rat!" A man charged into the breakfast room. His copper-bright hair stood out in all directions, and his chest heaved beneath a loose-sleeved white shirt and taut waistcoat. Amber eyes swept right over Tohru's head and narrowed with loathing. "You," he growled.

Mr. Yuki picked up his fork and lifted a bit of potato into his mouth. He chewed a moment, then swallowed. "Really, Kyo. Your talent for embarrassing yourself is astonishing."

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**Ok, so not a whole lot of the "catman" but I promise there'll be much more Kyo in the next chapter! Bye for now :-)**


	3. Handling the Beast

**A/N: Reviews sure are a great incentive to write more. Thanks for the encouragement, Curry Kitty!**

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket belongs entirely to Natsuki Takaya**

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Chapter 3: Handling the Beast

Tohru looked from Mr. Yuki to the young man spitting daggers from the opposite end of the breakfast table. The contrast between them couldn't have been more stark. The redhead stood there with a bit of skin showing around his collar, his white cravat hanging on for dear life. If Mr. Yuki was as reserved and cool as a pond in winter, Kyo positively seethed with heat. Tohru shifted to see him better.

"Embarrass myself?" Kyo snorted. "What are you talking about?"

Across the table, the earl propped an elbow on the table and plopped his head into his palm. He sighed, smiling. "I imagine he means you should watch your language around our fair visitor."

Kyo's gaze dropped to Tohru for the first time. For a moment, his dusky skin flushed, but his jaw tightened over gritted his teeth. "I don't have time for this. Yuki's trying to kill me."

"Oh, this ought to be good," Yuki murmured.

"Don't act like you didn't put that man-eating beast in the stables. He had rat stink all over him!"

The earl, Shigure, began tapping one finger on the table. "Kyo, if you don't explain the reason for your rampage, I'll have you thrown out for boring me."

"A great brute of a chestnut was in _my _usual stall. When I opened the door, it kicked at me with both front legs, then lunged to take a bite out of my head. Chased me halfway across the stable yard before I could slam the gate behind me. I've never seen the damn beast before in my life," he jabbed an accusing finger at Yuki, "and I know _he's_ behind it!"

"Oh no!" Tohru jumped to her feet, sending the chair skidding back over the floor. "It's Bellsire. Oh dear, Mr. Kyo I'm _so_ terribly sorry. Was there a cat nearby?"

Behind her, Yuki's silverware stilled. The earl ceased his tapping. Kyo stared at her, his molten gaze boring through her with an intensity Tohru didn't understand. "He," she began, "my horse Bellsire hates cats, you see, and he'd only attack like that if he smelled one. I'm sorry, it's all my fault Mr. Kyo. I'm glad he didn't hurt you."

"Your..." Kyo's weight shifted. His chin jutted up and he folded his arms across his chest. "You're lying. For _Yuki_."

The venom in his accusation shot like poison to Tohru's heart. Tears pricked her eyelids. "No, it's the truth, I'll show you."

She bolted for the foyer, heedless of the grandeur of the house and the exalted position of its inhabitants. Her vision burned with the memory of those cognac-colored eyes, the anger in them, and behind the anger, had that been hurt she saw?

The grand front doors stood nearly fourteen feet tall. Tohru wrapped both hands around the handle and pulled one of the panels open.

"Don't!" Iron-hard fingers seized her above the elbow, squeezing with the power of a vise.

"Ow!" Tohru cried.

"Release her, you bastard."

At the hard command, the hand fell away. Tohru turned to see Kyo backing up, staring at his own fingers. Her arm throbbed where his thumb had dug into muscle, but he looked so horrified at himself, she yearned to reach out and comfort.

Yuki stepped deeper into the hall. "You are a menace," he said.

His voice seemed to snap Kyo back to life. "Menace?" he sneered. "The only menace here is your hell-spawn horse!"

"Shut your mouth for one moment and listen to me. This girl was sweetness itself to you and you hurt her. You _hurt _her. I ought to—"

"I'm fine," Tohru said quickly, dropping her hand from massaging her bruise. She forced a laugh. "And Mr. Kyo, it really is my horse, come see." Before the men could say another word, she slipped outside.

Poor Bellsire. She spied an enclosed stable yard just beyond the curving driveway and ran down the steps. Maybe if she rode her gelding back to the house, Kyo could see he wasn't a danger and believe that Bellsire did indeed belong to her. Then he and Mr. Yuki wouldn't say such hateful things to each other. She couldn't bear to think she had caused their fight.

The gate latch was well-oiled and held no sign of rust. She flipped it back and darted into the enclosure. There, on the far end of the yard, a chestnut gelding danced away from a stable boy's hands. Bellsire's run-in with the cat must have left him antsy. He didn't usually resist handling. She bowed her lips and whistled.

Bellsire's ears pricked, and for a moment, his tail stopped its agitated twitching. He turned and began a slow trot toward her across the yard.

Then, his head jerked up. His nostrils flared. With only thirty yards between them, the mighty horse charged.

Tohru barely had time to scream before strong arms banded around her and whipped her sideways out of Bellsire's path. An explosion of dirt and smoke burst around her. She lost her balance, and only a pile of fabric broke her fall.

Shaking her head to clear it, she looked up to see the earl himself catch Bellsire's reins. Yuki strode toward her, anxiety lining his beautiful features. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm...fine," Tohru said. "Where did...who saved me?"

Yuki's head tilted to one side. He took her arm and helped her stand. "'Who' Miss Honda? You threw yourself out of harm's way."

"But, I felt someone's arms..." She crossed her arms over herself, trying to remember. Already, the memory faded just beyond her reach. She couldn't have imagined it...surely she hadn't.

"Eh, your guardian angel perhaps?" Yuki said, and his smile was so gentle, his eyes so concerned, that Tohru let him curl her hand through his arm and lead her from the stable yard. As she took her first step, however, her toe caught on the fabric beneath her feet. "Are these clothes?"

"Some slovenly stablehand no doubt. I'll speak with them."

"Oh please, don't, it's no matter to me." Her stomach gave a little rumble, and she peered up through her lashes sheepishly. "Do...you think my breakfast has gone cold?"

Yuki laughed and looked down at her in wonder. "You are a remarkable young lady, Miss Honda. I assure you, it will be no trouble to get you more."

An anguished wail rang from the house. "I must go! I've failed you, Your Highness, you entrusted me with dear Lady Kisa and Young Master Hiro and I've _failed,_" the voice cried.

To Tohru's astonishment, the individual tearing down the front steps was a man.

The countess appeared beneath the portico in a swirl of robin's egg blue. "Ritsu Sohma, I am not a queen, so stop addressing me as 'Your Highness' and stop crying like a woman. Get back here at once."

But the poor man just moaned and sprinted for the stables.

Tohru's heart ached for him, but Yuki merely tightened his grip on her hand and kept walking toward the house. As they passed by, Shigure glanced at Yuki. "What does he expect to do, kick his heels and snivel while the ostlers hitch a team to the carriage? Surely, he can't ride."

"You'd be amazed at what Ritsu can do when he's desperate to hide from a failure."

And just like that, the man burst from the stables, clinging to a horse's back like a loose-limbed monkey. He rode away, but barely.

Reeling from the bombardment of people and conflicts, Tohru reached her free hand over to rest on Bellsire's whithers. Her dear friend shook his mane, as if to reassure her he was still here, and the world was normal.

"Quite the little hell-spawn you have here, Miss Honda," Shigure winked. "I like a girl who can handle beasts."

"He's not a beast, my lord, only around cats. His sire and grandsire before him were all like that, so we couldn't have cats anywhere near home..." her voice trailed off, suddenly unsure that was a direction she should have taken.

The earl's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "And where was home, exactly?"

But the countess saved her from answering. She sauntering down the steps, every inch the queen she professed not to be. "Well, Shigure? What will we do now? The children must have a tutor and I'm leaving for London the moment Harris finishes with my portmanteaux."

"Not to worry, my love. Miss Honda will make an excellent temporary governess."

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**(A/N: I thought about holding onto this just so I can establish some kind of regular update schedule, but I figure that isn't fair to readers, so it's ready now and I'm posting it now. I know I won't be able to maintain this pace, but I promise that as soon as the chapters are ready, I'll post them.)**


	4. When Sheep Climb Trees

**(A/N: T****hanks to Curry Kitty for nominating **_**The Taming of the Cat **_**for Otaku Online Stop's March Best Newcomer Fan Fiction Poll! I'm very excited. Nominations are taken through March 27. Poll voting is open and will close March 31, and winners will be announced April 1, 2010. See Xapita's profile for links.**

**Thanks for reviewing, Erte Girl :-) Here's a nice long chapter for all my readers!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya does.**

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Chapter 4 When Sheep Climb Trees

Tohru slipped from the grip of Yuki's arm. Her hands fluttered to her throat. "Me? My lord, I have no training to be a governess."

"Is Yuki right? You are a gentlewoman?" The earl looked suddenly more serious than she'd ever seen him.

"I..." Did she dare confess this much? It was such a small thing to admit, but a gentlewoman alone on a road might raise more questions than just this one. She drew herself up straight. The truth would suffice for starters, she just hoped God and Papa could forgive her for the inevitable lies she would have to tell to keep those men far, far away. "I am indeed, my lord. An orphaned gentlewoman."

"And you have had a gentlewoman's education?"

"Yes, and the classics as well."

"Capital!" The earl swung a triumphant grin back in his wife's direction. "See, she can even do a little to further Hiro's preparations for Eton."

The countess seemed unconvinced. She marched down the stairs and swept around Tohru, perusing her like a buyer would inspect a horse he wanted to buy. "She speaks properly and holds herself well, but we know nothing about her. Who are your people, Girl, where do you hail from?"

So soon? Tohru's tongue froze in her mouth. Lies were so awful, she'd never been able to tell one without feeling physically ill and confessing all the moment she finished. With the countess's hard eyes blazing in Tohru's face, the truth slipped out unbidden. "Chideock, my lady. My father was a vicar."

"The Reverend Honda." The countess rolled the name over her tongue experimentally. "Never heard of him, but I have heard of Chideock, a village so small I'm surprised they warranted their own vicar." She darted another glance at Tohru. "There are two types of vicar's daughters: angels and harlots. Thank God you don't strike me as the harlot type. She'll do, Shigure." With a swirl of her skirts, she turned to lay her finger on the emerald glittering from the center of Shigure's snowy cravat. "Temporarily. Send an advertisement to the papers—for a tutor _and_ a governess, the children will need individual help soon—and I'll see about formal interviews when I return from London." She leaned up on her tiptoes and whispered something into the earl's ear.

A blush rose over the earl's cheeks. The countess slid back down to her normal height and flashed an enormously self-satisfied smile. "Don't forget." With a snap of her fingers and a shout to the servants, she vanished back into the house to resume her packing.

"Well," Shigure clapped his hands bracingly, "that went well. Yuki, why don't you see that Miss Honda finishes her breakfast, and then take her to meet the children. I have to hand this horse over to the stablehands before I check on our poor cat."

"You _do _have a cat!" Tohru clapped her hands. "Oh the poor dear, I always wished I could have a cat of my own, to snuggle and care for, but Papa disliked them, and didn't mind having horses who felt the same way. Cats are such darling things, don't you think?"

Yuki's head reared back. The earl succumbed to a coughing fit so violent Tohru feared he might have caught a fever rescuing her the night before. "Are you ill?" she asked uncertainly.

"Quite—ahem—quite fine, I assure you. Yuki, Miss Honda's breakfast?"

"Of course," he said stiffly, and threaded Tohru's hand back through the crook of his arm. He didn't speak as they walked the length of the drive to ascend the front stairs. It wasn't until they sat back down to the relative solitude of the breakfast room that Yuki said, "I have to apologize for my brother Kyo's behavior, Miss Honda. He is..." his beautiful features hardened, "difficult to deal with."

"Kyo is—I mean, Mr. Kyo is your brother?" They didn't look a bit alike.

The footmen carried in a fresh plate of ham and placed hard-boiled eggs in their egg stands. While she waited for his response, Tohru broke into her egg with a silver spoon and plucked out a piece of the white to eat.

"My half-brother. We had different mothers."

"I see. You look so close in age, is he—?"

"Younger by two years," Yuki's shoulders seemed to relax. He cut the skin off the edge of his ham. "He lives in the dower house at the moment, and rides over here so rarely, it truly is damnable luck you should have to suffer his presence without fair warning."

Tohru started to protest, but the soreness whenever she lifted her arm made her hold her tongue. Still, she couldn't forget the hurt she'd seen in Kyo's eyes when he thought she'd lied. She could tell it pained Mr. Yuki to discuss him, so she wouldn't plague him farther, but she resolved that the next time she saw Mr. Kyo she would make an effort to become his friend. If he let her.

After breakfast, Mr. Yuki led her upstairs to the children's wing. Tohru already knew what her charges looked like. She hoped they would grow to like her.

They found Kisa reading in a window seat of the schoolroom, goldenrod locks tumbling from her narrow hair ribbons.

"Cousin Kisa," Yuki said, "your father has asked our guest Miss Honda to serve as a temporary governess for you and Hiro. Be sure to give her your best work."

Kisa dropped her patent leather shod feet to the floor. She plucked up one side of her gown and dropped a half-curtsy.

Satisfied, Yuki exhaled and looked around the long, narrow room. "Where is Hiro?"

The girl glanced out the window. "The lake."

Tohru caught the frown beginning to form behind Yuki's naturally cool face, and stepped in. "What a delightful opportunity to get to know Lady Kisa, and for her to give me a tour of the grounds. Mr. Yuki, you can count on us to find Master Hiro."

"Ah," Yuki eyed Kisa, who met his gaze right back, and at length, he nodded. "Very well. Just don't wander out of the park."

What an estate! Tohru had only seen the drive and some of the grounds near the stables, but as she followed her silent guide out the French doors of the orangerie and across several grand terraces, awe swept through her body. Sheep rolled across a field of green, bounded by forests and a lake to the north. Its nourishing stream meandered south, past wildflower patches nestled into the hollows of hills, where brilliant bursts of color softened the forbidding thicket beneath. The landscape seemed both wild and gentle, inviting and mysterious. Such magnificence was too much for simple Tohru Honda of Chideock Parish. Tears sprang to her eyes.

"Miss Honda?" a soft wisp of a voice rose to her ears. "You're crying?"

"Only because it's so beautiful."

The barest smile graced Kisa's lips. She nodded and swept down into the grass, beckoning for Tohru to follow.

They traveled down by the lake, where blackberries crowded trees bending to see themselves in water smooth as a silver tray. Tohru coaxed a few details out of Kisa: she was ten, and Hiro was nine, but small for his age. She liked reading and playing the pianoforte, but any reference to the future made her retreat into silence.

"What about you, Miss Honda?" she said after one such very long silence. They had walked nearly to the opposite side of the lake. "What was your come out like?"

Tohru sighed and held an errant blackberry branch out of the way. "I haven't had one. Papa—I mean, my father was going to take me to London next week."

"Was? He can't anymore?"

Her throat tightened. With difficulty, she said, "No, he can't."

A twig snapped overhead and clattered to the path at their feet. Tohru looked up, and all thoughts of sadness vanished when she realized the dark shape overhead was a man.

A gentleman sitting in a tree.

"Mr... Mr. Kyo?"

He sat with his back reclined against the trunk, one long leg propped on his branch-seat, with the other leg dangling free. His hair was still wild—maybe wilder than it had been at breakfast, and his loose white shirt had no cravat to keep it tight at his neck. Abject horror radiated from every angle of his frozen body.

"Mr. Kyo?" She said again, this time smiling in spite of herself. She never thought she'd see a gentleman perched in a treetop, let alone one who looked like he belonged there. "We're trying to find Master Hiro, and you have an excellent vantage point. Can you see him?"

He swallowed hard, and seemed to shake himself to life. With something very like reluctance, he tore his gaze away from her and scanned the surrounding countryside. "Bloody idiot," he muttered, swinging his leg over the branch.

Or at least, that's what it sounded like. "I beg your pardon?" She hoped he wasn't referring to her. He didn't truly hate her for bringing Bellsire here, did he?

"The boy is in a tree some thirty yards distant." With both legs on one side of his branch, he leaned down, gripped a lower branch and swung out of the tree.

Tohru gasped, but he landed, cat-like, on the dense underbrush.

He jammed his hands in his pockets, his shirt puffing out from his back like irritated fur. "I'll take you to him."

His voice had lost some of its gruffness, and as Tohru followed him with Kisa at her side, she wondered why she kept thinking of him in cat terms. Just like his uncle, the dog-like earl. The strain of the past four days must have overset her senses.

Hiro's tree bent way out over the lake, its roots rising precariously out of the ground like it was one heavy snowfall from toppling into the water altogether. The boy stood on all fours at the narrow end of a branch. His arms were shaking.

"Hiro!" Kisa called, the loudest Tohru had ever heard her speak. "What are you doing? You'll fall in!"

"If Kyo can do it so can I," the stubborn little voice shot back.

"You little sapskull," Kyo said, "Sheep can't climb tre—ow!"

Tohru glanced over to see Kisa scowling and Kyo favoring his left foot. Served him right for calling the little boy a sheep, mocking him for following his lead. She called to Hiro, "Your climbing is most impressive, Hiro, how long have you been practicing?"

"Just a year," he said, but some of the belligerence in his voice had faded. He secured a grip on the branch and—gingerly—turned to sit. "What are you still doing here?"

"I'm to be Kisa's temporary governess and teach you what I know of the classics." She faked a little cough. "My throat is getting tired with all this shouting. Won't you come down so we can get to know each other better?"

Hiro waved an insect away from his face. "Nah."

"Hiro," Kyo growled, taking a menacing step forward. "Don't make me come up there to get you."

Tohru squelched the impulse to stomp on his other foot. That was no way to coax a proud little boy out of a tree.

Just as she expected, Hiro scooted farther out the limb. "Shut up, Kyo. When I grow up to be earl, I'll have you shipped to Austral—"

The branch broke.


	5. Doing the KittyPaddle

**An extra special thanks to the people who reviewed chapter 4. You keep me excited about this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. That distinction belongs to Natsuki Takaya.**

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**Chapter 5 – Doing the Kitty-Paddle**

Hiro plunged into the lake.

With a cry, Tohru rushed to the water's edge.

"What are you doing?" Kyo appeared at her side. He swung his arm across her body, but did not touch her. Out in the lake, Hiro surfaced. He thrashed against the water, coughing and crying for help.

Tohru grabbed Kyo's arm, her heart beating wild with fear. "Do something!"

Refusal darkened his features.

"Mr. Kyo, please!"

He looked from her to the exploding surface of the water. Hiro's splashing was growing weaker. Kyo's gaze met Tohru's again for the briefest second, then he tore his arm from her grip and whipped his shirt over his head. Kicking off his boots and stockings, he said, "Kisa. Run to the house for Hatori, We may need him."

He leaped into the lake. Three strides took him in up to his neck. The water by Hiro would be even deeper.

Tohru stood alone on the bank, every muscle tensed. It should be simple. Kyo could just swim a few strokes to reach Hiro and drag him back to the shore.

But as she watched Kyo lunge forward, beating at the lake with graceless abandon, horror struck Tohru's voice from her throat. Kyo couldn't swim.

Or at least, not well at all. Painfully, he moved through the water, shouting at Hiro to stop splashing the bloody water in his bloody eyes. He drew near enough to grab Hiro's arm. The boy whipped around and tried climbing him like a tree.

"Get on my back, you sodding little wretch._ Not my neck_, damn it, grab my shoulders!"

"Please Hiro, do what he says!" Tohru cried from the shore. She hopped on her toes and clenched her hands at her chest. "You can do it, Kyo!"

If the swim out had been graceless, the swim back was flat-out desperate. His face half-submerged, Kyo surfaced every few seconds to blow water out of his mouth. Most of his hair lay sodden and molded to the back of his head, but the dry top stuck out in all directions. She was so afraid he might sink back down and never surface again, she watched with both hands clapped over her mouth.

When Kyo's feet finally reached bottom, Tohru dropped to her knees on the bank and said a silent prayer of thanks. When she opened her eyes, Kyo had set Hiro on the bank and was climbing out himself. Rivulets of water coursed over his chest and dripped from his long, lean-muscled limbs. His bare feet sunk into the soil along the bank. Sides heaving, he stood there for a moment, looking at coughing, shivering Hiro, and at Tohru, who tried not to stare and instead patted the boy on his back repeating inane words of comfort.

When she felt Hiro's fear begin to ebb, Tohru looked back up at Kyo. "Thank you, Mr. Kyo. I had no idea."

Wariness dropped into his eyes as effectively as shutters. "No idea about what?"

"That you are not comfortable in water. Where I come from, men take to swimming as naturally as walking. It was a very brave thing you did going in there anyway. I'm sure Master Hiro is grateful."

The boy choked back a cough and rose to his feet. His scathing glare at Kyo burned Tohru to the core. "Don't be so sure." He spun away and disappeared up the path.

Tohru sighed and fell back on her heels.

"Don't worry about him," Kyo said, his voice gruff above her head.

She looked up. He dragged his shirt back over his head and picked up his boots and stockings. Questions tumbled to the tip of her tongue.

"You and I are the enemy," he said. "It'll take more than my saving his life and your genuine concern to change that." He cracked a wry smile and held out his hand. "Take it from someone who knows."

His smile left Tohru stunned. Like magic, it curled down through her senses to take root somewhere near her heart. She took a deep breath and reached up to take his hand—a warm hand still damp from the lake water, but not clammy. In fact, it felt like the strong hand of a laborer. Her cheeks heated as he helped her to stand.

"Thank you, Mr. Kyo," she said quietly.

No sooner than she spoke, his free hand went back in his pocket. He looked away. "Just call me Kyo," he said, turning to walk up the path.

"I...excuse me?"

"You said it earlier. "

When she'd thought he might drown. She fell into step behind him. "Well yes, but it's hardly proper in normal situations. People will think—"

"You call _him_ 'Mr. Yuki,' don't you?"

"...yes?"

"Then call me Kyo." He spoke with his head turned sideways so she could see him in profile—and see the sharp gleam of his teeth. "As long as you're living on my family's lands, I _order _you to call me Kyo."

That brotherly competition again. Kyo and Yuki should have outgrown it years ago, but they hadn't. Tohru lowered her head. It was wrong to think she personally was the reason they were competing. They would probably fight over anything that came into their orbit.

But something told her Yuki won most of their fights, so she decided to give Kyo this one, meaningless victory. "Very well. Kyo," she said quietly.

He didn't say anything, but as the path widened, he shortened his strides, and soon he was walking by her side. Up through the thickets they walked and gradually the lawn flattened beneath their feet. Their strides shortened to become slow, meandering steps. Kyo cleared his throat. "How long will you be staying?"

"I suppose as long as the earl and the countess wish me here."

A heartbeat passed. "And after?"

She couldn't answer. Maybe with the experience the Sohmas were giving her, she could hire herself out to another family as a more permanent governess. She was pretty enough, but she certainly didn't have the money, or connections to attract a husband without a Season in London. And a Season was so far beyond her reach now, it seemed laughable to think of herself tricked out in new ballgowns and drawing lovesick young gentlemen to her side with a single flick of her fan. No, that wouldn't be her future.

A foggy night and an argument outside the vicarage stables had seen to that.

Kyo didn't press her to answer. He seemed to understand he had wandered onto private ground.

Slowly, the path wound them closer to the house. They passed a stand of flowering shrubs. Buzzing whirred past Tohru's ear. She looked up and saw a bee land on Kyo's nose.

He shrieked and dropped his boots.

Shocked laughter burst from Tohru's throat. Kyo ducked and spun, cursing at the bee to leave him alone. Still laughing, Tohru whipped her mob cap off her back and began swatting at the bee until it chased her, too. A buzz dove close to her ear. She yelped, laughing harder. Kyo seized her cap, caught the bee in the fluffy white fabric and threw it as hard as he could across the yard.

Still giggling, Tohru held her hand over her mouth and glanced up at Kyo. He was breathing hard, watching the cap for signs of movement, but when she stifled a snort, he looked back over at her. A grin broke over his face. "Stop that," he said.

"I can't help it." She laughed. "You are a most unusual gentleman, Mr.—I mean, Kyo. You climb trees, you hate water, and if a bee lands on you, you scream like a girl."

He scooped up his boots. "I do not."

Fighting her grin, Tohru scooted up the hill to match his long strides. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I keep secrets very well."

Kyo's eyes flicked over to her. "Is that so."

Tohru nodded. "Do you think Kisa found that person you sent her for yet? Is he a doctor?" She mounted the steps up to the terrace.

And two figures strolled out from behind a trellis. Yuki's face hardened the moment his eyes met Kyo's. Tohru's breath caught. Would she have to witness another fight?


	6. The Countess Steps In

**Another chapter! I'd like to know what you think of the characterization, since I have changed some of the relationships from the manga. I'm trying to keep the personalities the same, even if I am changing some of the external details. Also, I made a pretty big change with Akito...has anyone noticed what it is? Thanks for reading :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters, I just borrow them for a little while. They are the sole property of Natsuki Takaya. **

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Chapter 6 – The Countess Steps In

Mr. Yuki's eyes broke away from Kyo and settled onto Tohru. The hard lines that had formed at the corners of his mouth faded. "Miss Honda. May I introduce you to Dr. Sohma, our family physician."

He seemed young, for a doctor. Back home, Dr. Gibson had been gray as long as Tohru could remember. This Dr. Sohma held himself upright, with a rakish black eyepatch that lent a bit of mystery to his otherwise pleasant countenance. His elegantly cut coat and buff breeches were in the first stare of fashion—especially unusual in a doctor, but then his name _was_ Sohma. One of their own.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Sohma," Tohru said, inclining her head in a brief curtsy. "You've come to examine Master Hiro? How is he?"

"Indeed, Miss Honda. He seemed fine on my first cursory inspection, but since the boy was dripping all over the hall, his nurse herded him upstairs to change." His voice was low, almost a rasp...as if he never raised it unless absolutely necessary. His eye sharpened on a point somewhere above Tohru's shoulder. "Actually, Kyo, we were just coming to find you. I understand you took a dunking as well."

Kyo stepped forward to stand at Tohru's side. "If by dunking, you mean I saved the heir's life, then yes. I did."

"And we are all grateful," Dr. Sohma's eyes flicked to Tohru and back to Kyo. "How are you feeling?"

"Perfectly fine."

A cool spring breeze blew up from the south. Tohru watched the damp strands of his hair ruffle slightly.

"Perhaps you should come inside and change your clothes." Dr. Sohma flipped open his pocketwatch. "By the time I finish with young Master Hiro, I should be able to see to you."

All this fuss over a swim? It seemed so silly. Tohru wanted to smile, but the tension in the air was palpable. Sure, Kyo didn't swim well, but he'd gotten through it well enough that it didn't seem to warrant the intensity of Dr. Sohma's gaze.

"I don't think so," Kyo said. "Good day to you all." With a mocking tilt of his head, he turned to go—but stopped when his eyes fell on Tohru.

She curtsied.

Mumbling something, he gave Tohru a swift bow and strode off toward the stable.

Yuki's audible sigh brought Tohru's attention back from watching the ramrod straight figure disappear around the side of the house. "Good," he said. "Miss Honda, I'm sorry your walk with Lady Kisa had some unfortunate interruptions." A smile lit his eyes. "It seemed to do her good."

Tohru flushed with pleasure. "I'm so glad to hear it. Where is Lady Kisa now?"

Dr. Sohma chuckled. "Last I saw her, she had Master Hiro babbling an apology with nothing more than one of her looks. The girl accomplishes so much with so few words, it's truly amazing."

Yuki put one gloved hand behind his back. "Would you care to resume your walk with her, Miss Honda?"

"Oh yes," Tohru looked over to the doctor. "I mean, if Master Hiro no longer needs her..."

"One silent lecture is enough for one day, I'm sure. Let's all go up to relieve him."

The rest of Tohru's week passed in the sort of lazy bliss she thought she'd never know again, not after her father's death. When she found herself alone, sometimes melancholy thoughts of home and Papa intruded on the increasingly lovely weather. But Tohru had Kisa or Hiro so often at her side that the sadness had no room to linger. Kisa was a bright student, always asking questions about the world around her. Hiro showed a tendency to bore easily, but if Tohru kept her voice lively and maintained a steady stream of observations, he could be bewildered into learning. It helped that Tohru opted to leave the stuffy schoolroom for the dust mites and held their lessons outdoors instead.

One day, when Tohru and her charges sat discussing Socrates beneath the drifting branches of a willow, hoofbeats drew their attention through the pale green leaves. A bridle jangled. Tohru's heart leaped when she recognized the rider's red hair and tall, straight back. "Shall we invite Mr. Kyo to join us in our lesson?" she asked the young siblings.

Kisa hugged her knees close beneath her muslin day dress, but she nodded. One look from her, and Hiro swallowed the hot retort Tohru saw brewing in his eyes. "Fine," he said.

Kyo swung down out of the saddle and looped the horse's reins around a branch. He settled himself on the far corner of the blanket, saying, "I'll just listen."

For days after, no matter where Tohru took Hiro and Kisa, Kyo would appear at some point during the lessons, to simply sit and listen. Sometimes he made her nervous, gazing at her in that intent way of his, and she wondered if he ever spotted a flaw in her teaching. She wasn't trained for this, after all.

But he never corrected her, never so much as smirked when she simplified a point for Hiro's benefit. She wished she knew why Kyo had made their little classroom part of his routine, but she was much too shy to ask.

Tohru had been at Hundsford for nearly two weeks when the countess returned from London. Tohru sat in the morning room, bent over a piece of mending she insisted Mrs. March let her help with when the butler opened the front doors and Lady Akito swept into the grand foyer.

The countess unpinned her hat and tossed it to a waiting footman, while ranks of servants toted an army's worth of portmanteau up the staircase behind her. As she turned from directing them, her eyes snagged on Tohru. "You. Aren't you supposed to be teaching my children?"

"M-my lady," she said, setting the yards of lace to one side. She rose to her feet. "We've finished our lessons for the day. I was just helping Mrs. March—"

The countess batted her words away with the wave of a hand. "Yes, fine. Come here, child."

Surprised, but not really afraid, Tohru crossed the morning room to stand a few feet from the countess. The woman tilted a finger beneath Tohru's chin and turned her face from side to side. "This won't be as hard as I thought it would be. You _are _rather pretty."

Tohru smiled. "Thank you, my lady."

"That was a statement of fact, not a compliment." Lady Akito's hand drifted back to tap her own chin. "I've learned there was indeed a Reverend Honda of Chideock, but he died under mysterious circumstances. That was over a fortnight ago...and his daughter went missing about that same time."

Tohru sucked in a breath. She hadn't expected this, not after the countess's pleasant words.

"Ahh..." A predatory smile spread over Lady Akito's face. "You killed him, didn't you."

Horror-struck, Tohru's mouth fell open. Tears flooded her eyes. She shook her head, her lips moving soundlessly with no words to give release to her pain. "Papa?" she managed at last. "M-me, kill Papa?"

"Oh, for the love of God." The countess fished out a handkerchief and flung it in Tohru's direction. "That will do. Spare me the histrionics, girl. It's plain as pikestaffs you're no more a killer than my useless dog is."

What dog? Tohru choked back the worst of her tears, emotions hardening a bit as she waited for the countess to explain herself. She used the handkerchief to dab at her face. What sort of person made an accusation like that when she knew it was unfounded?

"Now that we have that nastiness clear, I think you'd better tell me how your father died, and tell me why _instead _of waiting to see him buried, you hied off to points foreign—and to my front door."

Shifting her weight to her heels, Tohru leveled a searching gaze at her employer. She drew a steadying breath. "You want the whole story?"

"Yes." Lady Akito sank to one end of the settee, her skirts sweeping behind her like plumage. "Sit. And don't even think about lying. I'll spot it in an instant. If I'm going to sponsor your come-out I need to know precisely what kind of urchin I'm foisting on the _ton_."


	7. The Story Told

**Thank you for your patience and encouraging reviews! Epik, your guess about Akito is close—she is indeed similar in personality to the last few volumes of the manga, but there's one other big change... C. Jordan might be catching on to it ;) Erte, it's funny how well the Furuba story fits the Regency conventions...I'm not trying to follow the storyline closely, but there are certain aspects of these characters and the things Natsuki Takaya did with them that I can't help trying to adapt for this AU setting. Glad everyone seems to be enjoying it so far! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. It is the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

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Chapter 7 – The Story Told

Sponsor her _come-out_? Tohru blinked, certain she'd misunderstood. The countess was looking at her expectantly. Oh dear, what had they been discussing before the bit about the come-out?

Of course. Lady Akito wanted her story. The whole, sad story. Even now, Tohru wondered if she could tell it without breaking into tears. Her emotions were still raw from the countess's accusation a moment ago. She sat on the opposite end of the settee and folded her hands in her lap. "It started when voices woke me in the middle of the night. I got up to listen. It was an argument of some kind, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. They were outside, and Papa," her voice cracked, "and Papa was with them.

"I tried to go back to sleep, but they continued, so I decided to go listen. I dressed and, uh, hid behind the bushes, watching the men yell." There went her chance at a Season. No countess would agree to sponsor a girl who thought nothing of kneeling behind shrubs. "Papa kept saying he wouldn't do it...I don't even know what it was, but the arguing got worse, and then one of the men pulled out a knife." Memory flashed. _A man with gaunt cheeks, and a hooked nose_. "He...stabbed Papa through the neck." _Her dear Papa...sagging to the ground, his life's blood spurting onto the flagstones she'd skipped over as a child_. Tohru pressed her fingers into her eyes, willing the tears to stay put.

"Go on," the countess said, her voice low and unreadable.

"I." She took a deep breath. "I must have made a noise, because the man with the knife looked my way. I panicked and ran for the stables. They chased me, so I jumped onto Bellsire's back and rode him out of the stable."

"Without a saddle?"

Out of everything in Tohru's story, _that_ was what shocked her? A wan smile curved Tohru's lips. "Yes, my lady. I thought only of surviving. The men chased me on horseback, so Bellsire and I rode as far and as fast as we could manage. And then the following day we rode some more, and the day after, until the earl discovered me half-dead with hunger." Tohru finally made herself look at the countess. "I am grateful, my lady, for your shelter, and for trusting me with your children."

"More like trusting them with you," the countess said, almost as an aside. "We will say no more about this history of yours. You will not tell anyone else. I will see to it that your father's affairs have been suitably arranged, and that you get whatever pin-money he may have left you. In the meantime, you are a distant cousin on my mother's side, a Miss..." she twirled her finger in the air, "Havilland. Yes, I do believe someone with that name occupies a distant branch of our tree. You are Miss Tohru Havilland, orphaned, and come to live with me. You grew up in Yorkshire, but of course you were gently reared so you evince none of that appalling accent."

Tohru's mind swirled. "But I have never _been _to Yorkshire, my lady!"

The countess batted the air. "No one of consequence has either. Just spout some nonsense about crags and windswept moors, and you've about covered it. Now," she said, rising to her feet in one fluid motion. "I must inform the earl that he gets to spend the Season in London with us. Yuki is already there, readying the house for our arrival. You have no possessions, so packing ought to go quickly. Just wear that muslin dress of yours, and I'll see about the rest of your wardrobe once we get to London. We leave tomorrow."

"My lady, I'm astonished, and...and honored, but your children—"

"Have a new tutor and governess arriving in less than an hour."

Feeling breathless and completely bewildered, Tohru tried one last time. "But why are you doing this for me?"

The countess brandished her teeth in what Tohru supposed was a smile. "Alleviating my own boredom."

********

Kisa took the news as well as could be expected. After a sigh, she brushed a curl back from her cheek and asked, "Will you write to me?"

"Of course." Tohru forced a chipper smile for the girl's benefit. "I'll share all the best gossip and describe every flounce of my gowns."

"And you'll tell me of your gentleman admirers?"

Blushing, Tohru laughed. "I'll tell you. If I have any."

"Well, I think it's rubbish!" Hiro jumped off his backward position on a rocking horse and punched a careworn pillow. "I finally get a halfway decent tutor and they steal you away. It isn't fair."

Tohru's blush deepened with pleasure. "I will miss you, too, Master Hiro." She knelt and held out her arms. "Can I have a hug to remember you by?"

The boy froze.

Kisa flew off the window seat and threw her arms around Tohru's neck. "Remember us both. We'll be fine."

***********

After her dinner in the kitchen, Tohru borrowed a wrap from Mrs. March and stole outside to say goodbye to the landscape she'd come to love. She wasn't naïve. The countess's interest in her couldn't last more than a few months, if that. If she didn't find a husband this Season, there would be no second chances. And even if she _did_ find a husband, her home would be with him—not here, near this lake, beneath these stars.

She hugged herself tightly, excitement and fear making her chest ache. If only Papa were here. He always knew the right thing to say.

"If you're cold, you should go inside."

Tohru whirled.

Soundlessly, Kyo stepped onto the terrace. No coat hid his broad shoulders from the moon's softening light. His shirt hung open at his neck, and his hair fell in the sort of wild disarray a duke's valet would kill to reproduce. On Kyo, it was natural.

Her hand at her leaping pulse, Tohru took an involuntary step back. "Kyo...I didn't hear you come up the stairs."

"Sorry." He tilted his face to the night sky. Tohru watched his unbound neck flex with the motion. "Habit, I suppose."

When he didn't continue, Tohru scrambled for something to fill the silence. Her whole body felt on edge. "You've just missed dinner, I'm afraid. Mrs. March may still have—"

But he shook his head and leaned back to prop one elbow against the railing. "I'm not hungry."

Why did standing with Kyo in the moonlight make her so jumpy, so incredibly aware of his every movement? She didn't feel this way during lessons, not entirely. He seemed content to just stand here with her, looking up at the stars, saying nothing.

"I should tell you my news." Her voice sounded breathless. What was the matter with her? "The countess is taking me to London. I'm to have a Season after all."

His eyes dropped back to hers. The silvery light cast his face in relief, hooding his gaze in unreadable shadow.

"Isn't it wonderful?" she said.

"Wonderful," he echoed, but the edge in his voice told her it was anything but.

She crossed the terrace to get a glimpse into his shadow-guarded eyes. "What's wrong?"

He raised his hand toward her face, but stopped and snatched it back to bury in his hair. He closed his eyes. "You tell me you're leaving and I'm supposed to be happy?"

"I'm leaving _Hundsford_, yes, but you aren't tied to the schoolroom. You can come to London, too."

"No." His eyes opened, burning even from the depths of shadow. "I can't." Kyo whirled on his heel, and stealthy as a cat, he slipped into the night.

Leaving Tohru alone in the darkness.


	8. Of Rats and Friends

**A/N: So sorry for the delay on this one! You've been very patient, so I hope I don't let you down with this chapter. It may be a bit slower, but there's a lot to cover, and I promise the next one will be a little more fun. **

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and all its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya. I am just a fan.**

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Chapter 8 – Of Rats and Friends

Tohru paused inside the foyer to the Earl of Hundsford's Berkeley Square townhouse and laid her reticule on the table. She picked up the stack of letters left on a tray. Nothing from Kisa. Sighing, she laid the letters down and reached up to unpin her chip hat. The hat was the very first thing in fashion, as were her cream pelisse and elegant walking gown. She'd just spent the morning at Lady Akito's _modiste_, trying on the first batch of dresses being made for her. The countess insisted she wear one of the new outfits home, and since Tohru knew Lady Akito wished to avoid being seen with a frightful country bumpkin, she could hardly refuse. Still, pretty clothes and a gorgeous home did nothing to help her uncharacteristic melancholy. The countess cared nothing for her loneliness.

A knock sounded at the front door. Tohru turned to open it, but the Sohma's nip-waisted butler swooped in before she could touch the handle. Embarrassed, she ducked into the parlor. She couldn't get used to all these servants.

"Good morning, Bell," she heard Mr. Yuki say in his pleasant, soothing voice. His tread sounded on the mahogany floors. "Is Miss Havilland at home?"

The name still sounded odd, though Mr. Yuki used it so often Tohru was starting to answer to it. She disliked the deception, and worried what a future husband might think when he learned the truth, but the countess told her to leave those matters in her hands.

Mr. Yuki stepped into the parlor, wearing riding boots and a coat of navy superfine. A smile lit the depths of his eyes. "My goodness. I see my aunt has been busy." He bowed at the waist. "You look lovely."

Tohru smoothed her hands over her new muslin skirts. "You are very kind, Mr. Yuki, especially since I seem to have cost you your home."

He laughed. "If you knew anything of the uncle I've resorted to living with, you would probably be moved to tears. But Ayame's house will be mine one day, so I suppose this is as good occasion as any to acquaint myself with it. Did my aunt furnish you with a habit as well?"

"Yes," she said. "My maid is probably unpacking it right now."

"Then would you do me the honor of joining me for a ride in the park?"

"Oh, yes!" She'd been in London for one week, and an invitation for some fresh air away from the countess's omnipresent gaze sounded glorious.

Quickly, she found the maid assigned to dress her, fix her hair, and in general make her presentable to the ton. Marie helped her into the robin's egg blue riding habit, and fixed a jaunty little feathered cap to her hair. When Tohru descended the stairs, Yuki already had Bellsire saddled and waiting beside his own horse.

Over the course of the last week, Tohru had learned the countess followed some social rules to the letter, while others she blatantly ignored. Most of society didn't step out of doors before noon—a practice Lady Akito decried as an utter waste of time. That morning, she'd insisted on setting out for the _modiste_ not a minute past nine. At that hour, the streets had been crowded with members of the lower classes, but not one person of the _ton_ crossed their paths.

Now was a different story. Hyde Park had come alive. Tohru's spirits brightened to see high-perch phaetons drawn by perfectly matched horses, and young ladies driven with their chaperones. Yuki seemed to know everyone, but apart from nodding to some, and saying hello to others, he never stopped to converse with them. He seemed content riding at Tohru's side, speaking only to her.

"Ah, so the rumors are true," a male voice drawled behind her.

Tohru turned to see a man ride forward on a great black horse. His shocking white hair seemed at odds with his handsome face. Why, he couldn't be older than Mr. Yuki!

The man gave her a slow, suggestive smile, and turned his attention to her escort. "The Honorable Yuki Sohma has returned to London." He waved his crop in Tohru's direction. "And with a lovely bird of paradise at your side, no less."

"Miss Havilland is the ward of my lady aunt, Haru, so I'll thank you to address her with respect." Steel edged Mr. Yuki's voice.

The man he called 'Haru' held up one gloved hand. "_Touché_. Forgive me, Miss Havilland. Hatsuharu Sohma, at your service."

Tohru knew this man had insulted her honor with that 'bird of paradise' label, but she forgave him the moment she learned his name. "Another Sohma! Then are you a cousin?"

"Second cousin, yes. Will you be attending Lady Yarborough's ball tonight?"

To her surprise, she noticed dark, almost black roots hiding beneath the white of his hair. What strange coloring. Tohru tried to recall the social schedule Lady Akito had dictated to her that morning. "It sounds familiar," she said uncertainly.

"Yes, we are," Yuki answered, "but I find it hard to believe Lady Yarborough invited you." He gathered up his reins, a signal that the conversation would go no further.

Mr. Hatsuharu chuckled. "True, but that's hardly a problem, is it? Don't let this cunning rat monopolize your time, Miss Havilland."

The twinkle in his eyes was so charming, Tohru grinned in spite of herself. "You are wrong, Mr. Hatsuharu. Mr. Yuki is a wonderful friend, and friends cannot monopolize."

Yuki's horse whinnied behind her. She glanced over to see him shift in the saddle, purposefully avoiding her gaze. Had she spoken too warmly? Would Mr. Hatsuharu think she was a 'bird of paradise' after all?

But the white-haired man only flipped his hat back onto his head and nodded at Tohru. "Then Yuki will just have to deal with my jealousy. I will see you at the ball, Miss Havilland. Good day." He clicked his tongue and rode away.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yuki," Tohru said, stricken with the fear she might have embarrassed him. "Oh I wish I knew how to go on in town. Should I not have said what I did?"

Yuki cleared his throat. "Only if it was untrue," he said, intently flicking something off his sleeve.

"But it _was_ true. If it weren't for you and the earl, I don't know how I could have adjusted this first week. But one cannot be friends with an earl, so I had hoped…" she bit her lip. "Well, I thought maybe you wouldn't mind being my friend."

Finally, he met her eyes. A breeze ruffled the ends of his pale, almost gray hair. "I would count it an honor."

Happiness curled from the top of her head to the ends of her toes. Tohru beamed. Yuki smiled back. She gathered up Bellsire's reins and, nudging him into a walk, they resumed their ride.

It wasn't until they drew near the Serpentine and Tohru spotted a cat in the crook of a tree that her melancholy returned like a stab to her chest. Kyo had sat like that on a limb above the lake at Hundsford—just as comfortable as a cat. Was he there, doing that right now?

Bellsire gave an irritated snort. Tohru guided him farther away from the offending cat, wondering if she dared ask Yuki the question she'd been pondering all week.

They were friends. She should be able to talk to him. "Mr. Yuki, why would Mr. Kyo say he 'can't' come to London?"

Yuki squinted out over the tranquil waters of the Serpentine. "Probably because he wouldn't be comfortable here."

"Why ever not?"

"Kyo wasn't raised to this kind of life. He loathes wearing cravats and making polite conversation, and he can't dance, which any gentleman worth his salt must be able to do."

"But aren't you brothers? I don't understand," Tohru said, aware she might be trespassing on her newly forged friendship. She just couldn't help wishing she could bring the estranged brothers closer.

"Half-brothers," he reminded her. "We weren't raised together, not for many years. When I went to Eton, they sent Kyo to Scotland. When I went up to Oxford, Kyo was settled in the dower house. The old earl thought it best."

Thought it best? Tohru had heard a few other references to Kyo and Yuki's grandfather—Lord Shigure's father—and everything lead her to believe he had been a cold, heartless old man. She couldn't imagine growing up without Papa's ever-present love, and even longer ago, Mama's warm embrace.

No wonder Kyo drank her lessons in like a horse dying for water. He hadn't been able to continue his schooling, not in the way any other earl's grandson should have been. Anger burned in Tohru's throat. If only she'd been able to stay at Hundsford, she could have continued teaching him alongside Kisa and Hiro. She didn't care that the sane, rational thing was to find a husband and see to her own future. How could she dance and flirt when she knew how badly Kyo's life had been blighted?

"Miss Honda?" Yuki said quietly, daring to use her real name with no one else near. "Is something wrong?"

Tohru drew a fortifying breath. Now was not the time. "I think I am growing fatigued, Mr. Yuki. I'd better return so I can rest for the ball tonight."

"A wise decision," he said, and turning his horse, he led her back through the crowds.


	9. To the Marriage Mart

**Time for another chapter! I hope you enjoy this one **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters—they belong to Natsuki Takaya.**

* * *

Chapter 9 To the Marriage Mart

"De-bu-tantes, de-bu-tantes," the earl of Hundsford sang to himself, peering into the mirror to tinker with his cravat. Tohru hid a smile behind one gloved hand. Lord Shigure was more excited about this ball than anyone else in the house, herself included.

His wife pecked him between the shoulder blades. "Don't embarrass me."

He spun and hooked one arm around her waist, dropping a kiss on the surprised 'O' of her lips. "Don't tempt me," he said in a low voice

Tohru's cheeks reddened. She looked away. They were such a strange couple...the earl easy-going and a bit scandalous, the countess domineering and cool. She couldn't tell if this marriage had been a love match at the start, but it certainly was now.

Lady Akito pushed him away, her eyes bright, and scolded him for mussing her appearance. "Yuki is going to arrive at any moment, and I have no time to fix my lip rouge."

The earl winked at Tohru. "Good, then you'll look fresh and pink like all the other debutantes, right Miss Havilland?"

"Absurd man," the countess said, swatting his arm. Her eyes fell on Tohru where she stood by the parlor fireplace. "Now Tohru, I expect Lady Jersey to be in attendance tonight, and you will need to impress her if you want her to grant you vouchers for Almacks. The woman is being infuriatingly stubborn with her 'rules are rules' nonsense."

"Ah, so that's what got you so ruffled. Ol' Sally refused to grant your protegé vouchers out of hand? Did you show her your forked tail and horns? That usually does the trick with me."

Lady Akito shot him a glare, but Lord Shigure turned back to the mirror and resumed whistling his "de-bu-tantes" tune.

"No dancing the waltz until you've been presented at Almacks," the countess continued over the whistling. "The quadrille and country dances are fine. And you promise, you know how to dance?"

"Yes, my lady, we had many assemblies and every fall the squire hosts the Harvest Ball."

The countess's upper lip curled up. "Charming."

A knock at the door rescued Tohru from further questioning. Yuki appeared, resplendent in his dark coat and knee breeches, a square amethyst winking in the folds of his snowy cravat. "Are we ready to go?"

The earl clapped his hands together. "Positively panting with eagerness."

Yuki's eyebrow twitched.

Lord Shigure swept up his walking stick, set a hat on his black hair and held his elbow out for the countess to take.

Her mouth flattened. "Not after your panting comment," she said. Plums bobbing from the crest of her head, she essayed out the front door.

"Miss Havilland?" the earl offered.

Mr. Yuki folded Tohru's hand in the crook of his elbow. He gave her a smile. "Don't worry Miss Havilland. I'll keep the old lecher far away."

Lord Shigure threw his shoulders back. His brow darkened in his best peer-of-the-realm expression. "Who, pray tell, is old?" he thundered.

"Notice he didn't protest the 'lecher' part," Yuki said and Tohru giggled as they descended the steps to the waiting carriage.

* * *

Tohru escaped to a cool place behind the fronds of a plant and put her fan to good use. She never imagined a _ton _ballroom could grow so hot! Nor had she dared dream she would have so many men eager to partner her in dances. She was just normal Tohru Honda of Chideock, pretty like many 18 year old girls, but nothing special.

No, she reminded herself, she was Miss Tohru Havilland now, ward of a countess, with just enough rumors of a dowry to sweeten the package. She didn't know where the rumors started, but when that poor gauche boy in the third dance mentioned how 'deuced glad' he was to meet a 'gel with a bit of substance to her' she didn't delude herself into thinking he referred to her mind.

She was just about to brave a dash to the refreshment room when she heard a bold female voice say, "Who are you, and how soon can you siphon off your pack of admirers and send them to my side?"

The speaker was a statuesque blond about Tohru's age, her features proud and maybe a little pretty. She stood beside a black-haired girl with more enigmatic looks—Tohru got the strange feeling that this second girl was trying to read her mind. "Don't mind Arisa," the mysterious beauty said, her voice distant and careful. "She's American, so she doesn't know any better."

"Arisa Uotani of the Boston Uotanies," the blond said, as if this explained everything.

Tohru reined in a smile. "I'm Tohru Havilland."

The black-haired girl frowned a bit, but she nodded. "And I am Saki Hanajima. Arisa is my cousin."

"Come to England to bag a rich husband—hopefully a titled one. Saki's father, my uncle, is a viscount," Arisa added, clearly proud of that detail.

Vulgar as this Arisa Uotani might be, Tohru couldn't help liking her. Miss Hanajima was a different story. She seemed nice enough, but the way she frowned after Tohru gave her false name made her uneasy.

"So are you going to introduce me to one of your dance partners or not?"

"Arisa..." Miss Hanajima sighed.

Tohru knew very well that walking up to a man she just met and introducing another girl would be unforgivably brazen. There was only one she felt comfortable with. "What about Mr. Yuki Sohma?"

Miss Uotani scanned the room over Tohru's head. "Which one is he?"

She peered around the plant. Mr. Yuki stood with Lord Shigure by the refreshment table, swirling a glass of amber liquid in his hand. A trio of debutantes strolled by. The earl threw back his shoulders and beamed. Clearly, he was enjoying the view. "Do you see the earl of Hundsford over by the refreshment table? What about the slim man in black talking to him?"

The American pursed her lips. "He's prettier than I am."

Defensive on her friend's behalf, Tohru said, "Well, Mr. Yuki is not vain in the least, and I've never seen him flirt. He's genuine, and—"

"I hear Lady Yarborough may permit a waltz tonight," Miss Uotani interrupted, leading the way out of their alcove to cross the ballroom floor.

"Not even you can maneuver that, Arisa," Miss Hanajima said. "Sohmas only waltz with other Sohmas."

Tohru tucked that information away to ponder later. She smiled at Mr. Yuki when he looked up at her approach. "Mr. Yuki Sohma, may I present Miss Arisa Uotani, niece to the Viscount Hanajima. And her cousin, the viscount's daughter," Tohru swept her fan to the other girl, "Miss Saki Hanajima. Miss Uotani is from America," Tohru said, unable to help her own excitement.

"Is she indeed?" Mr. Yuki said, looking from the tall blond to Tohru and back again. "Would you do me the honor of performing the next dance with me, Miss Uotani?"

Impish dimples appeared in Miss Uotani's cheeks. She raised her chin. "I would love to."

As Mr. Yuki led Miss Uotani into the set, and Miss Hanajima found a partner of her own, Tohru found herself standing up with the earl.

"Are you enjoying your first _ton_ ball, Miss Havilland?" Lord Shigure said.

She drew a deep breath. "Yes," she said at length.

"If you expect me to believe that, you're not half the girl I thought you were."

Her eyes flew up to the earl's. "I'm sorry, my lord, I just can't help wishing...Mr. Yuki told me Mr. Kyo stays away from London because he wouldn't be comfortable here. That he can't dance. Why didn't anyone ever teach him?"

A muscle tightened over his jaw. He looked back out to the dancers. "Sons rarely have a say in the decisions of their fathers. I'm afraid I cannot enlighten you further." He knocked back the last of his port. "I wonder what sport there's to be had in Lady Yarborough's card rooms. Miss Havilland." With a sunny smile, he sauntered away to the gaming rooms.

"Pardon me."

It wasn't a voice she recognized.

A man with hair the color of burnished gold stepped into her line of sight. "I know I should arrange an introduction, but I find that at the moment I have no patience for formalities. I am Sir John Graydon, and I would like to dance with you, Miss...?"

"Havilland," Tohru said, half in a trance. Sir John had the most vivid blue eyes she had ever seen. She shouldn't agree to dance with a man who hadn't been properly introduced. "I'm afraid my patroness wouldn't approve, sir, but perhaps if you apply to her now for an introduction—"

He seized her gloved hand and led her onto the floor. "Too late. The music has begun."


	10. The Mysterious Miss Hanajima

**Thank you for all the encouraging reviews! Alexis, I know all too well the frustration of reading a story that never gets finished and I promise I won't abandon this story. In fact, reviews usually make me crack open a new file and get to work on another chapter—particularly your questions and suggestions. So go you! First off, your question about their ages. I had to change the ages quite a bit from the manga to make them fit the time period and the somewhat different family structure. **

**Tohru, 18 Kisa, 11 **

**Kyo, 22 Hiro, 9**

**Yuki, 24 Hatori, 37**

**Shigure, 47 Hatsuharu, 22**

**Akito, 33 Ritsu, 27**

**Arisa and Saki are both 18. There will be other Furuba characters showing up later, so I'll share their ages when I get to them. As for your other suggestion, I'll start adding a lexicon to the end of each chapter, with my best guess on which words might need explaining. I hope this is helpful for other readers as well :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. It is the property of Natsuki Takaya**

Ch. 10 The Mysterious Miss Hanajima

Groups of four dancers spun through the steps of the quadrille, alternating partners every few bars. In spite of the interruptions, Sir John tried to converse with Tohru. He asked her how she liked London, inquired after her acquaintance with the Sohmas, and managed to work in a few amusing stories about their hostess, Lady Yarborough. He was a charming dance partner, and Tohru had to admit to herself she was enjoying his company.

The moment the music ended, he bent his smiling face toward Tohru. "Now, Miss Havilland. Can I persuade you to join me on a stroll about the room?"

Charming or not, Tohru knew she didn't dare favor one dance partner above any others. She glanced around the crowded ballroom, hoping to see Mr. Yuki, Lord Shigure, or even the countess striding to her rescue. No such luck. "Sir John," she said, letting reluctance color her voice, "Perhaps I ought to sit down a moment. If you'll just excuse me, I'll—"

Genuine concern creased his brow. "Oh dear, please forgive me. Here," he took her by the elbow and guided her to an empty chair. "I didn't realize you were fatigued, please have a seat, Miss Havilland."

"Th-thank you." Not entirely comfortable to have him still looming over her, Tohru gave him a smile nonetheless. It was kind of him to be concerned. Beyond him, she saw Miss Saki Hanajima drifting her way. Tohru folded her hands in her lap.

"Dearest Tohru," Miss Hanajima said, lowering herself into the chair beside Tohru. She peered up at Sir John. "Thank you. It was good of you to attend my friend."

It was the most polite dismissal Tohru had ever heard, and Sir John could hardly insist he remain in their company. A taut look flitted across his face, but then he smiled, bowed, and departed.

Tohru stared in open-mouthed amazement at the other girl.

"I hope you'll forgive me for the presumption, Miss Havilland, but that man...was overstaying his welcome."

Blushing, Tohru looked at her hands. Had she been that obvious? She hoped she hadn't been rude. "He was very polite, but thank you."

"You are welcome."

It seemed strange to be speaking with Miss Hanajima without Miss Uotani at her side. "Where is your cousin?"

"Doubtless shocking her next dance partner. My mother pulled off quite a feat getting Arisa vouchers so she could be approved to dance the waltz."

As if on cue, the sweeping strains of a waltz filled the ballroom. Tohru glanced again at her mysterious companion, wondering how the girl managed to time her words perfectly.

Across the ballroom, white-haired Hatsuharu Sohma led an intense-looking girl onto the dance floor. When Tohru remembered Miss Hanajima saying Sohmas only waltzed with other Sohmas, she studied the girl with interest. Her black hair piled in artful layers on top of her head—it would be very long if allowed to sweep down her back. Most girls had their hair cropped in the Grecian style, but Tohru resisted and apparently this girl had, too. She turned to her unexpected companion. "Do you know the lady dancing with Mr. Hatsuharu Sohma?" she asked Miss Hanajima.

"Ah, that is Miss Isuzu Sohma, or Miss Rin as everyone seems to call her."

So her hunch had been right! The Sohmas certainly were a large family. Tohru watched Mr. Hatsuharu's hand curl around the small of Miss Rin's back His thumb moved in a little caress, and Tohru thought she saw the girl's eyelids lower as she mouthed something in response. Mr. Hatsuharu flashed a grim smile, and away they danced. Tohru sat fused to her seat, her cheeks burning. What had she just witnessed? "How closely are they related, do you know?"

"Cousins I think, but there is some distance. If they made a match of it no one would be surprised—Mr. Hatsuharu has been shockingly public with his attentions, but he's also a tremendous rake, so that may be why Miss Rin keeps him at a distance."

The countess came to fetch a drowsy Tohru about an hour after midnight, with Mr. Yuki and the earl in tow. "I am pleased with your conduct this evening, Tohru," she said as the earl laid her cloak over her shoulders to ward off the night's chill. "Lady Jersey has determined you are worthy of vouchers to Almack's."

Eagerly, Tohru looked up into the face of her patroness. "Thank you, my lady. You are too kind."

The earl snorted.

Mr. Yuki took Tohru's hand and led her into the carriage. "Don't flatter her too much, Miss Havilland," he whispered. "She is already more than we can handle."

The ride back to Sohma House was a silent affair. Tohru's eyelids felt heavier than ever. She wasn't used to these London hours yet. Lady Akito still looked wide awake. In spite of Yuki's words, Tohru couldn't help feeling gratitude to the countess for seeing her ward's fatigue and ending their evening early.

Wheels clattered on the private, half-circle drive outside the earl's townhouse. They disembarked from the carriage, but something made Tohru pause and listen to the night. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

"Come now," the countess clucked from halfway up the steps. "This miserable air will give you a cold."

Tohru took one last look at the square under lamplight, unable to shake the feeling seeping beneath her skin.

Someone was watching her.

* * *

Regency Lexicon (from ):

quadrille – A dance in square formation for four couples that usually has five parts or movements.

Almack's – Exclusive assembly rooms in London. One required vouchers from one of the Patronesses (Sarah, Lady Jersey was one of them) in order to attend.

voucher – Vouchers were required to gain admittance to Almack's Assembly Rooms. They could only be given out by one of the **Patronesses.**

rake – dissolute, profligate gentleman; one who indulges in vices such as drinking, gambling and especially sexual conquests. From the Anglo-Saxon "rakel" or "rackle" meaning rough and hasty. Possibly also a reference to the fact that these gentlemen will rake, or search, hell in the afterlife.


	11. Where There's Smoke

**A/N: I think I've been looking forward to this as much as you guys have :-) Quick note: I'm also revealing the big change to Akito in this chapter, so I hope it sits ok with everyone. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket. It is the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

Chapter 11 – Where There's Smoke

Now that she was a social success, Tohru had to make an effort to carve out time every day to write to Kisa as she'd promised. The girl had been a faithful correspondent, sending as many as three letters in one week, most of them filled with questions about London and Tohru's legions of suitors. In turn, Tohru grilled Kisa on her lessons, asking about the new governess and Hiro's tutor, and avoiding all mention of the one question she most particularly wanted to ask.

Nearly a month after Tohru arrived in London, Kisa finally got around to mentioning his name. _It is odd, Hiro and I have seen nothing of Kyo since you left for London. He was never a frequent visitor to the main house before you came, but we had thought he was developing a habit of coming here after all. Uncle Hatori assures me Kyo is not languishing of a fever at the dower house, so perhaps he has gone to visit his friends in Scotland. I do hope he is well._

Tohru laid the letter on her vanity and indulged in a sigh. She shouldn't keep re-reading the paragraph. There was no more information there than the first time she'd read it. Where was Kyo? Was he still at Hundsford avoiding everyone, or had he gone to Scotland, as Kisa guessed? Tohru knew it was none of her business, but she couldn't help wondering..._wishing_ he was not so lonely as she imagined him to be.

She rose and shook out her pale mint-colored skirts. It was a gray, drizzly day, so the countess's plans to take her on social calls followed by a trip to eat ices at Gunter's with Arisa and Miss Hanajima were hopelessly ruined. Perhaps the earl wouldn't mind letting her select a book from his library.

Rounding the landing from upstairs, she looked down to see a gentleman standing in the foyer—a gentleman with orange hair.

Tohru's foot missed two steps. She cried out. Her flailing hand missed the banister, pitching her sideways down the stairs.

She heard her name. Strong arms swept around her, and for one second they clutched her to a chest radiating warmth. She barely had time to realize a man had broken her fall, when smoke puffed around her and the sheltering arms vanished.

Catching herself with her hand, she turned to sit on the stair. An orange cat stared up at her from within a pile of dark gentleman's clothes. Tohru blinked. The cat tensed to run.

"Tohru, was that—" the countess froze at the base of the steps, her eyes wide with horror. "Oh God, no!"

The cat's head whipped around to this new sound, and instinctively, Tohru scooped it up against her chest, cradling it against the seething fury she saw in the countess's eyes. Her mind wasn't working right, but she could at least protect the poor creature.

The animal tensed in her arms, but though Tohru prepared herself for the inevitable claws, they didn't come. Slowly, it relaxed into her arms.

Lord Shigure came striding out of his study, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. "Aki? Was that you?"

The countess seized her husband by the lapels and dragged him to see the stairs. "Look what _he's _done."

Tohru sat there numbly, her finger tracing the underside of the cat's ear. She watched the earl's jaw muscles tighten, and saw the way he took Lady Akito's hand in his own. "We can fix this," he said quietly.

"Fix this?" the countess screeched. "Your brother is a good three days' ride from here and I have already accepted the Duchess of Selby's invitation to bring Tohru to her ball tonight. I can't possibly take her now."

Grim lines formed at the corners of the earl's mouth. Still holding his wife's hand, he beckoned to Tohru. "My dear Miss Havilland, I think you ought to set Kyo down and come with me."

The cat went rigid beneath Tohru's suddenly frozen finger. Kyo? She was to set..._Kyo_ down?

Before she could make a move, the cat squirmed out of her arms—again, using no claws—and darted up the stairs.

"Bell, see that Kyo's clothing is returned to him." Lord Shigure left the countess and climbed the stairs to take Tohru's hand. "We have something to explain to you, Miss Havilland, and I would rather do it in the library than here on the stairs."

The Sohma's loyal butler waited until Tohru had staggered down the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder to see him scooping up a gentleman's coat, shirt, waistcoat, breeches and Hessian boots. The cravat was still tied. What did it mean, and why did her brain feel like it had gone to mush?

Lady Akito swept into the library ahead of Tohru and the earl. She rounded on Tohru the moment the door clicked shut behind them. "I have kept your secret, Tohru Honda, but this...this is a secret you take to your grave, or you will get there sooner than you expect."

The earl tsked and patted Tohru's hand. "Don't let my she-devil scare you, Miss Honda. But she is right. This secret must be kept. If we decide we can't trust you, we can erase it from your memory. Either way, what I'm about to tell you never, ever leaves your lips."

Tohru sank onto a chaise as all the blood drained from her face. "You can trust me, my lord, my lady. I owe you both so much."

"And well you remember it," the countess snapped.

"Akito," the earl said, sharply for him. "Miss Honda. Many years ago, the Sohma family was cursed. Some of us are...possessed," he winced at the word, "by the animals of the Chinese zodiac, so that an embrace with a normal human of the opposite sex transforms us into that animal, triggering the curse."

"Which reminds me," Lady Akito said, crossing the room with her arms folded beneath her bosom. "What exactly were you doing on the stairs with Kyo?"

Tohru's mouth opened and closed. She forced her brain to think. "I think I was so surprised to see Kyo here, in London, that I stumbled and would have fallen down the steps if he hadn't ran up and..." her voice faded, "caught me."

The countess stopped her pacing. "That is a good question. What _is _Kyo doing here?"

Lord Shigure held up his hand. "Easy, my dear. We haven't finished explaining things. So, Miss Honda, Kyo caught you, and then you saw a puff of something like smoke?"

She nodded.

"And when you looked, there was a cat sitting in a pile of Kyo's clothing. The cat isn't a true member of the Chinese Zodiac, but regardless, there is always a Sohma cursed by the cat. For this generation, it is Kyo."

Tohru recalled the way the cat didn't use his claws on her. She blushed, remembering she'd cradled his face to her chest. "Are...forgive me, my lord, but are you...?"

"The dog."

Unbidden and completely unexpected, a smile burst over Tohru's face. So that was why he always reminded her of a dog—an impish, loyal and kind-hearted dog. "And you my lady?"

Lord Shigure grinned. "What shall we tell her, Aki, that you are the proverbial mother hen?"

The countess scowled at her husband, then reared up straight and peered down at Tohru. "I prefer _rooster_."

"Preening, overbearing, and more commanding than most men. Yes, my dear, I suppose we can call you a rooster if you wish."

"Don't call me anything!" Lady Akito shot back, then blew out a short breath. "You see then, Tohru, why we can't afford to let this get out."

"Yes, my lady," Tohru sat up straight. "And you can be sure I won't tell a soul. I treat secrets with the greatest care."

She peered at Tohru a moment, then did something unusual for her: she sighed. "Yes, I think I know you well enough by now to know that is the truth."

The compliment curled straight through Tohru's scalp. She smiled happily. "So is there anything more I should know? Are all Sohmas affected?"

"No, though my branch of the family seems to have been hit harder than most," the earl said, a slight growl darkening his voice. "Our children are both cursed. Hiro is the ram and Kisa is the tiger."

Tohru's mouth dropped open. She tried to imagine that sweet girl transforming into a ferocious tiger... "But I hugged Kisa before. She didn't transform."

"It only happens with a member of the opposite sex."

That's right. Suddenly, Tohru remembered offering to hug Hiro, and how the boy had frozen before his sister came to the rescue to hug Tohru instead. Tears sprang to her eyes. What an awful secret for those children, for all the Sohmas to bear!

The library door swung open with a bang. "Tohru, are you all right?" Kyo demanded, crashing into the room with his cravat half tied and his jacket nowhere to be seen. "She's crying! You..." he seethed, advancing on the countess from across the room. "What have you been doing to her?"

* * *

_Regency Lexicon_

(I was having a hard time getting the website to appear, so just google "Regency Lexicon" and click on the link for "thenonsuch")

_cravat_ – a gentleman's neckcloth made of starched linen that could be tied in a variety of styles

_dower house _– a relatively small house on an estate to which the dowager could retire when the new heir took up residence

_ices_ – an early version of ice cream

_Gunter's_ – a confectioner's shop in Berkeley Square, very popular with the _ton._

waistcoat – sleeveless under-coat, or vest

_Hessian boots_ – High boots coming to just below the knee that have tassels on the top. Named for the German soldiers called Hessians who introduced them.


	12. A Financial Matter

A/N: Thank you for the reviews I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and that my changes flew ok with most of you. Julia, I think Kyo likes being in Tohru's arms very much, though I'm sure he hates not being able to do it as a man. Enjoy the May weather everyone!

Dislaimer: Fruits Basket is the property of Natsuki Takaya.

Ch. 12 – A Financial Matter

"No!" Tohru said. "I mean, Mr. Kyo, it's nothing. Please, the countess and the earl were just explaining why..." her face grew hot. She would sound daft just saying it, but if her aristocratic patrons said it was true, she had no choice but to believe the impossible. "Why you t-turned into a cat."

He stopped midway across the carpet, every line of his body gone still. Then, just as quickly, he shifted his weight and folded his arms across his chest. "I see," he said, looking away.

The countess lowered her hand from her throat. A hard light glittered in her eyes. "Well, Kyo, you might as well tell us what you think you're doing here."

"It is a matter to discuss with the earl."

Surprise came over Lord Shigure's face. "A matter, Kyo?"

"A financial matter," he growled.

"Ahh." Lord Shigure drew the word out on a sigh. "Will you excuse us, ladies?"

With a flick of her fingers, the countess dismissed the two men. Her gaze fell on Tohru, silently ordering her to stay where she sat. Kyo followed Lord Shigure out of the library without giving Tohru a backward glance. Why did she expect one, anyway?

"What a vulgar reason," Lady Akito said at length. "A 'financial matter' indeed. That boy knows nothing of finances. He must squirrel his allowance away like a goblin, for God knows he never spends it on clothing." Her narrowed eyes fell on Tohru. "Were you writing him?"

"My lady!" Tohru said, the painful blush returning to her face. That the countess could even suspect her of such fast behavior... "I write only to Lady Kisa."

Lady Akito flashed a smug sort of smile. "Very good. Enticing her with all the delights of a Season, are you? Maybe now she won't shrink from me when I suggest we buy her gowns more fit for a young woman."

"She is only twelve, my lady. She has her whole life to be grown. Why not let her enjoy what's left of her childhood?"

Those hard black eyes froze. The countess's mouth tightened above her pointed chin. "Who ever heard of a girl clinging to childhood? She must grow up, Miss Honda, and if you do anything to retard her development I will cut you out of this household without a penny, Shigure be damned."

A chill filtered beneath Tohru's skin. Clinging to her courage, she studied the countess. The woman didn't mean to be cruel, she realized, watching the way Lady Akito's sides heaved with her breathing. She was a mother, and her daughter's disinterest in growing up gave her considerable anxiety. Perhaps the countess worried Kisa would never want to marry...that she would end up a spinster. With a spinster for a daughter, a woman like Lady Akito would consider herself a failed mother. "Don't worry, my lady. Your daughter is a wonderful, highly intelligent, but otherwise perfectly normal twelve year old who delights as much in my ballroom stories as I enjoy telling them."

The countess flicked at a ruffle on her wrist. "I'm not worried. What a tiresome notion," but her fury seemed to ease. When she straightened to look once more around the room, she took a long, deep breath. "No doubt this _financial_ _matter_ will be resolved quickly, and since I am sure Kyo has no wish to linger in this house, perhaps it is best if you remain confined to this room. That is all." Sweeping the train of her day dress behind her, Lady Akito opened the door and strode out of the library. The butler's face appeared briefly and soon the door clicked shut in her wake.

Would Kyo truly not wish to linger? Tohru rose to her feet and crossed the room to the shelf of novels the earl kept carefully disguised from his lady's eye. She pulled the eight tattered volumes of Plutarch's _Lives_ —a false-front covering—down from the shelf, exposing over a dozen novels to her gaze. She selected one without much care to the author or the title and set Lord Shigure's clever disguise back in its place. He didn't know she'd found his hidden stash, but she liked to think he wouldn't mind so long as she kept the secret.

She settled into the street-side window seat and began to read, but the words moved meaninglessly before her eyes. There was a curse on this family. A _curse. _Or was it an elaborate prank? Tohru couldn't put it past the earl, but she'd seen the anger—and yes, fear—in the countess's face the moment she spotted the orange cat. Lord Shigure might love mischief, but Lady Akito did not.

And if it was true, then it really had been Kyo who caught her. He risked the entire family being run out of the country as devil-worshipers just to break a clumsy girl's fall. She hadn't forgotten those warm arms, the steadiness of his chest in that heartbeat of time before smoke puffed around her and he vanished from sight.

Smoke. This wasn't the first time someone rescued her with a puff of smoke. The first day she met Kyo, a man swept her from Bellsire's rampaging path. The horse had likely smelled Kyo himself, but who had rescued her? Kyo had only just met her, hardly even liked her when that happened.

Tohru dropped her head back against the window casing. The curse wasn't even the only mystery she had to ponder. What could have brought him to London when he'd told her quite adamantly he could not come? The countess might have dismissed his "financial matter" but Tohru wanted to know: could Kyo be in debt? She was staring so hard at the pleats in the drapery, plumbing her brain for a way she could help that only the slam of the front door startled her to attention.

A motion outside caught her eye. Hat in hand, Kyo darted down the steps. He turned the corner just beyond the iron gate, then spun on his heels to glance back at the house.

Tohru's breath caught in her throat.

Slowly, he stopped his backward pace. He reached out to grab one of the bars in the fence, dragging himself closer to the house—closer to the window where she sat.

She held herself still, mortified to be caught watching, and yet unable to look away.

His eyes narrowed.

Her heart lurched, but then she realized the sky was still misting, making it difficult for him to see. She eased forward and slowly, she waved her hand.

He jerked back from the fence and turned away, his handsome face gone grim above the points of his collar. He jammed his hat onto his head, then shoved his hands into his coat pockets. Without another glance, he walked away.

Tohru curled her hand against her chest. Had it been wrong of her to wave at a friend? But perhaps she was assuming too much. Perhaps Kyo didn't consider her a friend anymore. She had lived in London much longer now than she ever had at Hundsford. A two-week acquaintance did not give her a permanent claim to friendship, even if he had saved her—once? twice?—as any true gentlemen would. One thing, however, was abundantly clear.

He hadn't come to London to see her.

**Regency Lexicon:**

_Season_ - The prime time for social events for high society in London. The Season began after Easter and lasted through June. A variety of entertainments were held during this time, and it was a way for ladies to meet potential mates.


	13. A Matchmaking Ox

** A/N: Thank you C. Jordan for your thoughtful review last chapter, especially your comments about the pacing. If anything bogs down or goes too fast as we continue, please let me know (anyone!). Writing a story in installments like this sometimes makes it hard to gauge pacing.**

**Chapter 13 – A Matchmaking Ox**

A thousand candles glittered in their holders, transforming the Duchess of Selby's ballroom into a fairytale woodland complete with trees anchored in planters. Tohru touched her fingertips to Sir John Graydon's hand across the square, turning with the other couple in their group. The formations of the dance brought her to Sir John's side. He smiled. "As usual, Miss Havilland, you are grace itself."

Tohru looked away rather than hold his gaze when he paid her such compliments. She should be flattered—a country miss impressing a peer of the realm—but instead she just felt uncomfortable. They reached the end of the row and turned apart, swinging back around to dip between the other dancers.

At least Sir John hadn't waited for a waltz to claim her hand. Two weeks ago, at Lord and Lady Tarleton's ball, he waltzed with her and held her entirely too close. She'd felt suffocated, swallowed up in his nearness. But the countess seemed to like him, so Tohru did nothing to discourage his attention.

The dance formed the square again. She reached up to take his fingertips, and as the square turned, a flash of color by the entrance caught her eye. Red hair on a gentleman. Her heart beat a little louder. It couldn't be...not here...

Was that really Mr. Kyo Sohma strolling down the grand staircase of the Duchess of Selby's ballroom, looking every inch a _ton _gentleman? The dance turned Tohru away, and she realized Sir John had been addressing her. "I'm sorry, Sir, what was that?"

He chuckled. "Ah, Miss Havilland. You are not the type to hang on a man's every word and I find it does me good."

"I must ask for your forgiveness. I thought I saw a friend."

He pivoted on his heel and placed his other hand in hers. "And did you?"

Tohru spotted Kyo again, this time as he was bending over a young lady's hand, penciling his name in her dance card. Her lungs tightened. He wasn't supposed to be here. He wasn't supposed to dance.

"Miss Havilland? I asked if you did indeed see a friend?"

"Yes."

The violins and cellos drew out the long, final note, and the dancers turned as one to applaud the musicians. Tohru pressed her lips together. It would be rude to just leave Sir John, but she hoped he didn't try to linger in her company.

"Shall I return you to the countess?" he said, earning himself a warm smile.

"Oh yes, thank you."

He left her with a few kind compliments to Lady Akito about her company and strolled away. Tohru sighed.

"A fine-looking man, by most accounts, and an eligible match should he choose to offer," the countess said behind her fan. Three plumes curled from the band at her forehead to the bare skin at her neck. She ought to have looked ridiculous—and resembled royalty instead. "But something tells me that was not a sigh of happiness."

"He overwhelms me, my lady."

Lady Akito snapped her fan closed. "He is just a man."

"And we are easily controlled, aren't we, Aunt?"

To Tohru's astonishment, Mr. Hatsuharu Sohma bent low over her hand. His white hair glittered like snow beneath the chandeliers. "Are you promised for this next dance, Miss Havilland?"

The countess made a low sound in her throat that sounded astonishingly like a growl. "They will let anyone into balls these days, won't they?"

Mr. Hatsuharu winked—actually _winked_ at the Countess of Hundsford. "So different from the way it was in _your_ day, eh?"

Tohru's mouth fell open. Before she could speak, Mr. Hatsuharu had her hand tucked in his. He drew her onto to the ballroom floor. "Mr. Hatsuharu, how could you speak so to the countess?"

"Mean old hen deserves whatever she gets." He led her to a place in the line of dancers.

_Hen_. Lady Akito was a...Tohru swallowed hard, making an effort to shove all thoughts of animals and curses back into the recesses of her brain where she could forget and pretend this was a normal family.

"Ah, that's right." He chuckled and the music began. They clasped hands and turned. "Yuki told me you know about us now_._"

A blush burned Tohru's cheeks. He dared talk about the curse in public? "I would rather talk about something else."

"What—like why Kyo is here?"

Now her cheeks caught fire. "No, Mr. Hatsuharu, and if you keep shocking me with such blunt talk, I'm likely to forget the steps of the dance."

"I shock everyone, Miss Havilland." A dazzling smile slid over his lips. "It's part of my charm."

The dance separated them, and while Tohru skipped through the steps, she watched Mr. Hatsuharu out of the corner of her eye. He was an amazing dancer, fluid in a way even her old dancing master Peppelini had never achieved. His white hair and handsome face made him look like a distinguished rogue, a streetwise prince, a paradox. He winked at her then, and she couldn't help herself. She laughed.

"Have you decided to take me as I am then, Miss Havilland?"

"If I thought you meant anything by those words, I would give you a good scowl," she said, fighting a smile.

His eyes glittered for a moment. "If I was half the rake people say I am, I would claim you myself."

"Mr.—" Tohru felt her blush rising again and forced herself to laugh. "I think I shall choose to ignore every word you say."

"That," he said with mock-gravity, "would be wise."

They danced through the set, whirling and enjoying themselves so much Tohru realized that in spite of his hair, the blunt talk and his apparently unsavory reputation, Mr. Hatsuharu was...nice.

When the music drew to a close, he said, "The next dance is a waltz. Are you already promised for it?"

It was a strange question, since dancing with the same man twice in one evening was generally not done, and she could never dance with the same man twice in a row. Besides, according to Miss Hanajima, Sohmas only waltzed with other Sohmas. Hesitantly, she said, "No, I am not."

He seized her hand. "Good," he said, looking quite satisfied with himself. He hauled her across the room to a grove of trees arranged around a sconce set deep in the wall. With a jerk to her heart, Tohru recognized the figure standing in the shadows.

Kyo stepped forward, his cravat tied in an elegant fall at his neck. The starched points of his shirt touched either side of his jaw. His black coat molded to his broad shoulders like he'd been born wearing it, fastening close around his narrow waist. Tight pants encased his legs. She'd never seen him look so well-dressed, so...powerful.

He stared back at her.

With a sigh, Mr. Hatsuharu dropped Tohru's hand. "For God's sake, do it already." He bowed to Tohru and walked away.

First taking a moment to glare at Mr. Hatsuharu's retreating form, Kyo turned back to her and cleared his throat. "Miss Hon—Havilland," he said, "would you dance with me?"

Her mind raced alongside her heart. Hadn't Mr. Yuki said Kyo didn't know how to dance? But then he'd also said Kyo hated cravats. She eyed the cravat tied tightly around his neck. Even if he knew how to dance, did that mean he knew how to waltz? Of all the dances, the waltz required the most grace and was the most difficult to dance without embarrassing one's partner. What if he didn't _know_ the next dance was a waltz? And what about the curse? Wasn't the danger of a dance requiring people to stand only a few inches apart the reason Sohmas only danced with each other?

She noticed Kyo shifting his weight uneasily and realized she'd hesitated too long. He would doubt himself now. Gathering her courage, she lowered her voice so only he could hear. "I would love to…Kyo."

His eyes widened, but he didn't move. Somewhere behind her, the violinists tuned their strings. Tohru held out her hand, and slowly, he reached out to take it. The warmth of their palms through their gloves seemed to shock him to life. He gripped her hand tighter and led her onto the dance floor, turning sharply when they reached a good position. He shifted the position of his hand in hers. Tohru swallowed.

Then he brought his other hand up and laid it at her waist, his thumb positioned on the sensitive skin of her belly. Through the thin muslin layers of her gown, Tohru felt the heat and the gentle pressure of his fingers. Her chest ached. She forced herself to look up at his face, and suddenly all the worry fell away.

An intense light burned in his eyes. Everywhere he touched her, she felt his confidence. He knew this was a waltz. He knew what he was doing. And he wanted to dance it with her.

On a long, deep note, the cellos swelled to life.


	14. The Waltz

**A/N: I apologize for the longer than usual wait between chapters. I had a request for the full manuscript of my novel so I needed to focus on getting that sent out. I hope the follow-up doesn't disappoint :-)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters—Natsuki Takaya has that honor.**

**Chapter 14 – The Waltz **

Tohru couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so light, so carefree. Breathlessly, she floated through the ballroom, heedless of the world beyond Kyo's shoulders, intent only on him. Kyo didn't have Mr Hatsuharu's artistry or even Sir John's command, but footwork alone couldn't make her feel this way. Kyo looked at her like he would never let her go.

Someone bumped his back, knocking him closer to Tohru. She gasped.

Kyo's grip around her waist tightened, but he didn't transform. "Don't worry, Tohru," he said, bending close so only she could hear the low rumble of his voice. "It won't happen as long as I keep my thumb where it is."

"How do you...I mean, I thought you didn't know how to dance?"

"I learned."

Her lungs tightened. Chandeliers glittered overhead, shining bits of fire in the artful mess of Kyo's hair. Her mind seemed to want to forget the world one second and pepper him with questions the next. She felt hungry for his voice, for answers only he could give her. It had been so long since they could talk...but would she ruin the magic?

"Are you...all right?"

Kyo's tentative question cut through her dilemma. Tohru glanced to the folds of his neckcloth. "I'm glad you came," she said.

Was it her imagination or did he pull her just the slightest bit closer? His hand seemed to slide farther across her belly, to where he could almost be pushing her away as much as holding her tight. How confused the curse must be!

He spun her around. Tohru smiled with the swing of her skirts. She wanted the music to go on, to remain in this enchanted world of chandeliers and gowns, with the molten amber of Kyo's eyes barely a foot from her own.

But, like everything, the waltz came to an end. She drew her hand out of his and stepped away from his hand at her waist. Her heart was in such turmoil she didn't even remember to applaud the musicians. Kyo was her friend, the first adult she met who treated her like an equal and not a charge. This joy she felt at seeing him here stemmed from seeing him finally taking his rightful place in the upper classes—a place he should have had all his life. Dancing with him, talking with him like this...should make her happy, and she was. But she also had a throbbing ache in her chest that would not go away.

"Toh—Miss Hon—damn it!" he growled suddenly. "Miss _Havilland._ Would you care for some refreshments?"

"Yes, but I can get it myself. This ballroom is so hot."

Kyo stuck a finger between his cravat and his neck. "You don't know the half of it," he muttered.

They threaded a path through the press of bodies to the cluster of tables arranged around a waterfall. The Duchess of Selby must have spent a fortune transforming her ballroom into a fairyland—and only for one night. Such extravagant expense reminded Tohru of the last time she saw Kyo. "Has...that financial matter you discussed with the earl been resolved?"

His expression sharpened on her for a moment, then he looked away. "Lemonade?"

"Yes, please."

He retrieved a glass of lemonade from a waiter behind the table and placed it into Tohru's hands. She watched him for any signs of embarrassment—gentlemen didn't like to be reminded of their debts, especially the gambling kind—but Kyo's hands were steady. The intensity in his eyes didn't waver. She tried again. "You don't have to explain anything to me, I just wanted to know if everything is all right."

A roguish smile formed at the corner of his mouth. "More than all right, so you don't need to worry."

Relief poured through Tohru's heart. She beamed up at him.

"That's enough, Kyo," a smooth, almost feminine voice said behind him. "Don't you think it's time you released Miss Havilland to more appropriate company?"

Tohru looked past Kyo's shoulder a second before he himself turned. Mr. Yuki Sohma leaned against a tree, examining the fingernails of one hand.

A growl rumbled in Kyo's throat. "What, like you?"

Yuki pushed away from the tree and sauntered over to stand beside them. "I would be more appropriate, yes, but unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to indulge in Miss Havilland's company right now." He looked directly at Kyo. "I need to speak with you."

Tohru held her breath. She looked from brother to brother, weighing one's cool beauty against the other's simmering heat.

A muscle ticked in Kyo's jaw. "Is that so?"

"Don't think of making a scene. You'll ruin all your hard work."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"A maggot in a cravat is still a maggot."

Kyo began pulling at the fingers of his glove. "I ought to call you out."

"No!" Tohru found herself the object of two gazes. She glanced down to where her slim, gloved hand lay against the crook of Kyo's arm. Gathering her wits, she removed her hand and tried again. "Please, Kyo...and Mr. Yuki, please don't fight. Just go with him, Kyo. I will visit with Miss Uotani and Miss Hanajima."

Kyo glanced from her face, to the hand on his arm, and back again. "Fine. Make this quick, Rat."

Yuki's cheeks went white with fury. Tohru had never seen him this way before. He spun on one heel and stalked off to the veranda, with Kyo just as hot in his wake.

She lingered by the refreshment table, recalling Mr. Yuki's reaction to Kyo calling him a rat. This wasn't the first time she'd heard Kyo use that name against his half-brother. A pinprick of intuition told her Yuki must be like the other Sohmas she'd met. And if he was cursed, did this mean he turned into a rat?

The cat and the rat. That look on Yuki's face frightened her. What if he and Kyo wound up fighting anyway? What if one of them got hurt, or even killed? A glance around the ballroom told her she had a few more moments until someone else claimed her attention. If she was going to do this, she'd better go now.

Tohru twisted one hand through the cord of her fan and slipped along the perimeter. The doors to the veranda hung open. Unseasonably cool night air chilled her skin. She folded her arms over her chest and slipped behind a column to listen.

"You're the one who wanted to talk so damn bad, but if all you're going to do is stand there and sulk, I'm going back inside."

"Bad_ly_," she heard Yuki say.

Kyo laughed, a short, humorless sound. "_That_, you respond to. I left Tohru's side to be lectured on grammar? We're done here."

"What the devil do you think you're doing, waltzing with her?"

"Waltzing with her."

"Now you fancy yourself a wit, do you? Wit would have gotten you nowhere if _that_ happened."

Shame stole through Tohru's heart. They were arguing, but nothing violent...nothing that justified her skulking here, eavesdropping. She wondered if she could slip away before they continued.

"Relax, it wasn't going to happen. Haru showed me how to prevent—"

"Haru's theories are none of my concern. Miss Honda is. I don't know what's gotten into you, forgetting certain details and thinking of things you _know _you can't have, but Miss Honda is innocent. She doesn't need another moment of your polluted influence."

_Polluted _influence? Yuki took this too far. Kyo might not be as cultured as most gentlemen, but he was hardly polluted.

But when Kyo responded, it was in a low voice so taut it shook. "I am not my mother."

"You carry her blood. Unless you want that for Miss Honda, leave her alone."

But instead of flying into a rage, or denouncing Yuki on the spot, Kyo went quiet. His arms hung stiff at his sides. He stared at the tiles beneath his feet for an eternity, motionless as a statue but for the breeze ruffling the ends of his hair. Finally, silently, he jogged down the veranda steps and walked away.


	15. A Snake in Brocade

**A/N: Yes, Yuki behaved very badly last chapter. Poor Kyo! Who wants to go comfort him? ;-)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters. They are the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

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Chapter 15 – _A Snake in Brocade_

Paralyzed, Tohru watched Kyo's retreating form. She willed him to turn around, to march back up to the terrace and tell Yuki to stop speaking nonsense...but he didn't. When she could no longer see his shape in the moonlight, she watched Yuki sag forward against a railing and hang his head. It was as if all the strength had gone out of his body.

Tohru bit her lower lip. Should she sneak back inside while his back was to her? Or should she reveal her eavesdropping in order to defend Kyo? Was this even her business?

_Yes_, she decided, it _was _her business. Mr. Yuki had used her name to insult Kyo, and she couldn't let it stand. She took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the column. Her slipper crunched a fallen twig.

Yuki whirled at the sound. "Miss Honda—Miss Havilland!" he said, drawing himself up straight. His face looked more pale than normal. Was that just a trick of the moonlight?

"I appreciate your looking out for me, Mr. Yuki, but why would you speak to Mr. Kyo—your own brother—like that? Calling him a maggot, saying he's _polluted_. I thought better of you."

He rubbed his thumb and forefinger over his eyes. "I...I'm not sure what came over me."

It was a poor answer. Tohru really had expected better of Mr. Yuki Sohma, the consummate gentleman who never succumbed to Kyo's baiting and who always behaved with perfect decency of mind. "You pretty well said Mr. Kyo's mother was 'polluted' as well. What did you mean by that?"

He watched her for a moment, then a sad smile crossed his lips. "No, I've wronged Kyo enough for one evening. If you really want to know the answer to that, you'll have to ask him yourself." He took a step forward, his hands folded behind his back. "I do hope you'll forgive me, Miss Havilland. I usually have better self-control."

She kept her gaze steady on his. That he needed self-control to deal with his own brother bothered her more than she could say. But she had to admit she wouldn't want people telling her secrets behind her back, and she was certain Kyo would feel the same. By refusing to tell tales, and directing her to ask Kyo herself, Mr. Yuki had earned back a small measure of her respect. She wasn't sure how she could gather the courage to ask Kyo, but she would do it somehow. There was simply too much unhappiness in this family to ignore.

"It's Mr. Kyo who deserves your apology," Tohru said at last, her voice small in spite of her conviction. "I still want to be your friend, but I'm not sure I can before you mend matters with him."

"I see." His eyes were hooded in shadow. "I wonder if Kyo realizes how fortunate he is to have you to defend him?"

Tohru felt heat spread over her cheeks. She wanted to say anyone would do the same, but from what she knew of Kyo's position in this family as well as society, that might not be true. "I am getting cold." She rubbed her arms for effect. "Perhaps you can escort me back into the ballroom?"

Yuki's brow cleared. He straightened his shoulders. "Gladly."

She took his arm, and when the music peaked, they slipped back into the ballroom. Tohru bit her lip in an effort to control her embarrassment. Had anyone noticed her absence and thought she and Mr. Yuki were sharing a more intimate conversation on the terrace?

An apparition straight out of the last century loomed across her vision. The middle-aged man wore his hair powdered white and tied in a queue at the back of his neck. A frilly cravat spilled down his chest and his coat of lavender brocade fit tightly over his arms and shoulders before flaring wide from his hips. Dark purple satin breeches encased his legs down to the knee, where white silk stockings molded to his excellent calves. Purple shoes with two-inch red heels completed the ensemble.

Tohru stared.

"Oh God," Yuki muttered. He tugged her in a different direction.

"Yuuukiii." The man swept a handkerchief against his cheek. "At last, I've found you! My dearest, most wonderful nephew, but _mon dieu_, who _is_ this lovely little nightingale on your arm?"

Several questions flew through Tohru's mind, but most of all she wanted to know why this man was dressed like someone from thirty years ago. Had he thought the Duchess of Selby was hosting a masquerade? She looked at Mr. Yuki for the introduction.

The muscles of his arm tightened beneath her grip. He looked from her to the man and back again. "Miss Havilland," he said tightly, "I believe I already told you I am staying with an uncle who is an embarrassment to his family. May I present Sir Ayame Sohma, lately of India."

"_India?_" She leaned forward. "You have been to India, sir?"

Sir Ayame gave her a courtier's bow and took her hand in his. He kissed the back. "Aye, for twenty-five years I sojourned in a land of incense, where silk and gold are as plentiful as rain, and perfume flows through every breath." When he stood again, she noticed his eyes were the same color as Yuki's and that his hair beneath the powder was the same lavender gray. Sir Ayame could almost be Yuki's father.

_Father._ Memories of kneeling at her own father's chair, listening to his warm, pleasant voice as he read to her from travelogues about India flooded her senses...the tigers, the elephants, the maharajahs in their palaces...all these thoughts from the past threatened to overtake her. Mistily, she gazed up at Sir Ayame. "My father _so _longed to see India. He used to read books about it to me. We shared dreams of sailing one of the local boats to a grand port, and to take a ship from there to India."

"What prevented you?"

Yuki made something that sounded like a growl—what was he doing, turning into Kyo?—but Tohru didn't mind the question. "Village vicars and their daughters do not just sail to India, sir. For one thing, the expense...and then there were Papa's duties in the parish..."

"Why Sir Ayame, how good it is to see you again." Sir John Graydon stepped between Tohru and Yuki's uncle. A smile stretched over his features. "Continuing in your own inimitable style, I gather?"

With one long, elegant finger, Sir Ayame flicked at something on Sir John's shoulder. "I see no reason to dress as drab as Methodists with the rest of you." His smile was bland. "In my day, men knew more about fashion than to wear the same thing day after day. But then, in my day, men also knew better than to interrupt ladies."

Tohru decided she liked Sir Ayame.

Sir John had the grace to lower his gaze. He turned to Tohru. "I let my enthusiasm run away with my tongue. Please Miss Havilland...don't let me stop you."

She forced a smile. "I'm sorry, I've forgotten."

"You were speaking of your father," Sir Ayame said, perhaps more helpfully than Tohru would have preferred. "Where is he these days? I do hope you will tell him he is welcome to tour my Indian curiosities at any time. Reverend Havilland, was it? I will tell my butler to expect him."

"Uncle—" Yuki said, spearing Tohru with an anguished glance.

She tightened her hold on his arm. "It is all right. You are very kind, Sir Ayame, but you see..." her throat tightened, "my father is dead."

Had she only imagined it, or did something other than sympathy pass over Sir John's face?

"Oh!" Ayame exclaimed. He held his handkerchief over his mouth. "How dreadful! Is it recent? How did it happen? I do hope it wasn't a heart attack. I have the most horrid dread of having a heart attack—"

"Uncle," Yuki groaned.

Sir John took a slight step into the circle. "It is about to chime three o'clock, and Miss Havilland must be growing tired. I came in my barouche, so if my lady the countess wishes to remain, it would be my honor to drive Miss Havilland home."

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**Lexicon:**

_brocade_ - fabric woven with an elaborate design, esp. one having a raised overall pattern.

_queue – _hair tied at the base of the head and hanging down the back

_masquerade_ – a masked and/or costumed ball

_barouche_ - a type of open carriage with four wheels, a folding hood, and two seats facing each other inside.


	16. Riding with the Dog

**A/N: Thanks so much to talkstoangels77, Crazy With Happiness, PhantomSaint, and IloveYoochun for reviewing—I'm glad to see Ayame was a hit with everyone. :-) **** Sir John sure isn't winning himself any fans, is he?**

**Crunchikoola11: I'm glad you said something about the length of the chapters. I hope this is better? And I enjoyed your speculation ;-) Keep 'em coming.**

**Otaku-Rehab: Yes, Sir John got a bit carried away. What do you think of what happened afterwards? Here's your next "hit" of Regency!**

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**Chapter 16 – Riding with the Dog**

Sir John's audacious proposal hung in the air like cannon smoke. Mr. Yuki tugged Tohru closer to his side, putting more space between her and her suitor. "Miss Havilland is the ward of my aunt, so we will see what she decides." His gaze swept over Sir Ayame. "Uncle...will you keep Miss Havilland _and _Sir John company while I fetch Lady Akito?"

The older man's chest swelled. "Anything for my Yuki." He took Tohru's hand in his and laid a kiss across her knuckles. "Shall we stroll about the room, _cherie_?"

"No you shall not," Yuki said sharply. "I need to be able to find you. Stay put."

Sir Ayame nodded, looking every bit like a chastened puppy.

When Yuki had gone, Sir John turned to Tohru. "Don't let them talk you into staying if you wish to go home. It's criminal how late these balls can run. I'm looking forward to making an early night of it myself."

The refuge of her bedroom did sound wonderful, but not because of the time. She thought of the last time she'd seen Kyo. _Oh God, please let him have gone straight home_. Ladies weren't supposed to know of things like gaming hells, but she couldn't forget Kyo's history with gambling. He was angry...would he take it out on his own purse? Lord Shigure wouldn't appreciate having to pay more gambling debts.

"Miss Havilland, I must say this business about your father disturbs me greatly," Sir Ayame said with a shudder. "If a ball is not quite the proper setting to discuss it, then perhaps you will visit me in Grosvenor Square?"

Tohru's eyes shot up to his. Sir John made an impatient noise.

"You live in Grosvenor Square?" she said. This outlandish fellow had one of the most exclusive addresses in England? And he was inviting her to visit. Tohru was only human. "W-why yes, I would be honored."

Sir Ayame grinned like a cat who'd just downed a canary, two goldfish, and half the cream in the house. He hitched his cane beneath his arm and puffed out his chest. "You'll have to bring my tiresome sister-in-law of course, for propriety's sake. It's too bad my mistress can't act as a chaperone."

Red suffused Sir John's face. "You dare to speak of an acquaintance like _that_ in front of Miss Havilland? Mr. Sohma must have been foxed to leave her with you as her guard dog."

"Oh, don't say a _dog_. Dogs are so...," Sir Ayame twined his finger in the long cue of his hair, "tedious."

Taffeta skirts swished behind Tohru. The two men stiffened.

"So good of you to be concerned for the welfare of my ward, Sir John," the countess said. Her black eyes gleamed beneath the glossy sweep of her hair. "However, I have it on good authority that the earl was just about to retire for the night. He can take Miss Havilland in his carriage."

Sir John opened his mouth, but a scuffle in the direction of the gaming room caught their attention. Tohru saw Lord Shigure shake Yuki's hand off his sleeve and straighten the lapels of his coat. As they walked across the ballroom, the earl's expression softened. He bowed when he reached the cluster of people around Tohru.

She looked between the earl and his brother, pleased to see the resemblance in their faces in spite of their otherwise different coloring. Between the four brothers, Lord Shigure and Dr. Hatori were both dark, while Sir Ayame was light. And then there was Kyo and Mr. Yuki's father...what had he looked like? She didn't even know his name.

"There you are, dear," the countess purred, laying one gloved hand on Lord Shigure's arm. "Since you're on your way out, would you do me a favor and take Tohru with you?"

The earl raised her fingers to his lips. "It would be my pleasure, my lady."

"Well," Sir John said, his teeth gleaming, "I am relieved to find Miss Havilland so well tended. Your servant." He bowed and disappeared into the crowd.

"Oh smashingly done, Akito!" Sir Ayame poked the emerald-studded head of his cane into the countess's shoulder.

She glared at him.

"Then, Miss Havilland, are you ready to go?" The earl held his hand out to Tohru. "I believe I'm under orders to make a quick exit."

"Yes, thank you my lord." Laying her hand in his, she said her hasty good-byes to Sir Ayame, the countess and Mr. Yuki, then let Lord Shigurelead her out of the ballroom.

While the earl fetched her wrap, Tohru caught sight of Mr. Hatsuharu whispering something in the ear of a rouged lady she didn't recognize. She frowned, and as if he could sense her disapproval, Mr. Hatsuharu looked up. An idea knocked her thoughts of Miss Isuzu from her mind. She waved him over.

The young man said a few words to his companion before crossing the room to Tohru's side. He glanced around once. "Yes, what is it?" he hissed.

"Kyo has...I mean…" She blushed. "I have reason to believe Mr. Kyo left tonight in some anger. Will you find him, see he comes to no harm?"

The corners of his mouth tightened. "What would you have me do, scour London?"

Tohru's heart faltered. She'd never seen Mr. Hatsuharu in such a black mood. "I thought, maybe, you'd know where he's living?"

He snorted. "No."

Now she frowned. Lord Shigure would be back at any moment. "Mr. Hatsuharu, if you don't check to make sure Kyo isn't out haunting gaming hells—_yes_ gaming hells," she said when his eyebrows shot skyward, "I will see to it that Miss Isuzu knows you've been whispering in another woman's ear."

She spun on her heel and hurried to find Lord Shigure. She couldn't afford to give Mr. Hatsuharu the chance to tell her that Rin already knew about his flirtations. Hadn't Miss Hanajima said as much? She reminded herself that Mr. Hatsuharu was already on thin ice with Miss Isuzu. Maybe he wouldn't want to risk hurting his position further. Tohru hated resorting to threats, but she had to make sure Kyo would be safe.

"My goodness," the earl said when he ran into Tohru coming out of the coat room. "Bright eyes and flushed cheeks is no way for a supposedly tired young lady to look." He draped her wrap over her shoulders and gave her a pat on the head. "Come now. I've ordered my curricle brought around, and it's spanking new, so we might as well have a little fun in spite of our early exit."

From what Tohru could see in the lamplight, the curricle was indeed dashing. Its top was folded down, and its wheels were painted a gleaming sort of bronze in contrast to the black body. Two matched grays snorted while an unsavory-looking fellow held them in place.

The earl handed her into the vehicle, then crossed around to mount from the other side. He took up the reins. "Thank you, Grotting," he said with a nod. The man darted to the back of the curricle and jumped up to take his seat on the backstrap. The earl spoke to his horses and pulled out into the street. "Do tell me if my driving alarms you."

Tohru had certainly never ridden in such a sporting vehicle and it took her a moment to get over the city lamps and buildings flying by her head. She tugged the end of her wrap over her hand so Lord Shigure wouldn't notice her taut grip on the edge of her seat. Yes, she was alarmed, but one look at the earl and she knew she couldn't bring herself to ask him to slow down.

With his top hat stowed safely on the floor at his feet, the earl's hair blew back from his face. He leaned into the wind, drinking up the moonlight and freedom with a joy Tohru had never seen in a man of Lord Shigure's class. While he barked encouragement at his horses, his skilled fingers kept them exactly where he wanted them to go.

They were halfway home when his head whipped around to glance behind them. "Hm..." he said, loudly enough for her to hear. With a whistle and a flip of the reins, he swung the curricle onto a side street. Their pace slowed to accommodate the narrower space. "The Four-In-Hand Club would scoff to see me slowing down through here, but I am old and they—most of them—are not."

"My lord!" Tohru laughed, in spite of her curiosity over the detour. "You are not so very old."

"But trending in that direction, I am sad to say. It's my curse to have two surviving brothers so much younger than I."

"Would you tell me about him? Your...the brother you lost?"

The earl peered behind them, made a tsking noise and turned again, this time up a narrow alley. "Takeo was only a year younger. In personality, he was a lot like Kyo, though he looked more like Yuki and Ayame."

When he didn't continue, Tohru bit her lip. She wanted to know how Takeo died, but it was far too impertinent a question to ask. And she was not an eccentric nabob from the wilds of India.

After another check behind them and another of the earl's impatient sounds, Tohru had to acknowledge her suspicions. "My lord, why are we driving this out-of-the-way route?"

"Someone is following us."

Tohru gaped at him. They were always so careful to keep her in the dark, to shelter her, but here the earl sat, telling her exactly what he knew. He never ceased to astonish her. "And you can be certain they are following us now that you've taken these particular roads?"

Lord Shigure glanced down at her with a smile. "Smart girl. Yes, we were tracing our way home when I noticed him, and then he followed us into this rabbit warren of streets. Don't be alarmed though—we'll soon lose them." He snapped the reins.

His team leaped back to their blistering pace. Low-hanging signs grazed the air above Tohru's head. She clutched her seat with both hands. They took a corner and she felt the curricle lift onto its left wheel. A scream lodged in her throat. She would not cry out.

The earl leaned sideways to avoid an apothecary's sign, then turned the curricle into another alley. Tohru dared a glance behind her. She could see no one in the rapidly narrowing street behind her. "Have we lost them?" she said above the wind.

"Nearly." The grays swept down another alley and rounded the next turn onto a wider street. Lord Shigure drew them to an easy trot. "_Now _they're gone."

Tohru peered over the back of the curricle.

"S'awright, Miss," his tiger said from the backstrap. He tipped his hat. "The guvnor's a right dandy one with the ribbons. No clod in a poorly sprung hack can catch 'im."

The groom's pride in his master made Tohru smile. Perhaps they were safe after all.

Lord Shigure chuckled. "That's enough, Grotting. What would the countess say?"

"No doubt summat I'd rather not hear."

Looking down at her gloved hands, Tohru thought about the so-called 'clod in the hack.' Why would anyone follow Lord Shigure? Everyone within hearing distance knew he was driving home with her, and everyone who was anyone knew exactly where Sohma House was.

But then a harrowing thought crept into her head: murderous ruffians from Chideock wouldn't know where she was living.

"Miss Havilland? Is something wrong?"

She looked up. The earl's careless smile had evaporated from his face. She didn't know how much the countess had told him of her past, so she scrambled for a question to distract them both. "How much longer will the Season last?"

"A few more weeks."

So much for a distraction from her fears. A few weeks! Then she had only _weeks_ to inspire a proposal from one of her suitors—and after that she would have to marry him. Mr. Marrell, Mr. Fitzhugh and Sir John all seemed close enough to declaring themselves, so at least she didn't lack for prospects. She supposed she should consider herself fortunate.

When she saw he was still watching her with that unnerving seriousness of his, she said "I'm just ready to be home."

"We'll be there soon."

Tohru nodded. She looked at her hands once more. Just a little bit longer, and then she could cry.

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**Regency Lexicon**

_cherie_ – French endearment, "dear"

_foxed_ - Inebriated, drunk.

_nabob_ - A very rich man, especially one who acquired his fortune in India. From the Hindustani word "nawab," term for a ruler in the Mogul Empire.

_four-in-hand_ - Driving a carriage pulled by four horses, an exercise requiring skill. The Four-in-Hand Club was a notable club for gentlemen who were excellent drivers.

_tiger_ - a groom (usually a boy or small man) who rides on a small platform on the back of a cabriolet or a curricle.

_ribbons_ - reins

_hack_ – or "hackney carriage." A carriage for hire.


	17. About Last Night

**A/N: This is the longest chapter yet :-) They won't always go this long, but I didn't reach a good stopping point for awhile. Kyo and his "gambling habit" is a simple enough misunderstanding for the time. Many young men of the upper classes were gambling addicts because they didn't have much else to occupy their time. So you see, work isn't such a bad thing after all ;-) **

**PhantomSaint – Thank you for deciding to review every chapter. I'll look forward to it!**

**Crazy With Happiness – Lots and lots of Kyo in this chapter, so enjoy!**

**crunchikoola11 – I love your long reviews. As for your word challenge, I'll see if I can find a natural place for 'flabbergasted.' I love 'shenanigans' too, but it's a more modern word (1850's-ish and American in origin), so I don't think it would be quite in place. **

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**Chapter 17 – About Last Night**

_..so glad to hear your governess is a woman of sense. And what a blessing to have your cousin come back from the ladies' seminary in time for the summer! I have been worried you would be lonely, but it sounds like you and Miss Kagura are fast becoming friends. Do forgive me for asking, but you say she is fifteen years old and Dr. Hatori's daughter? He is still quite young, is he not, and to have a daughter that age? But perhaps these are impertinent questions. I will end this letter before I dig myself into a ditch and you start to think of me as an irritating busybody. Look after yourself and give your brother my affection._

_Yrs,_

_Tohru H._

Tohru set her pen in the holder and leaned back to survey her letter. She was determined to keep any hints of her own unhappiness from filtering into her words. Kisa didn't need to deal with her problems. Besides, the last thing Tohru wanted was to make the poor girl fear coming to London any more than she already did.

A scratch at the door behind her made her turn in her seat. The parlor maid, Lizzy, curtsied. "Bell said to fetch you, miss. You've gentleman callers."

It was customary for gentleman to leave their cards or call on the ladies they'd danced with the night before, so Tohru wasn't surprised. She stoppered the ink bottle and folded her letter into a drawer to be posted later. Her mint-colored gown rustled as she followed Lizzy downstairs.

Usually, Sir John arrived first, followed quickly by Mr. FitzHugh, who was a sweet man, but a bit doughy—in both brain and body. She smoothed her hands over the sides of her gown. _Please let this go quickly_, she prayed.

But as she rounded the landing, she heard the rumble of a familiar voice. "What's taking so long? The others might arrive soon."

_Kyo!_ Tohru tightened her grip on the rail to keep from dashing down the stairs like a hoyden. He was standing with his back to her, his red hair partially hidden behind a drape as he peered outside into the street. Beside him, Mr. Hatsuharu gazed up at Tohru with a lazy smile. He held one finger to his mouth.

She softened her tread on the stairs, gliding down until her slippered feet met the Turkey carpet in the foyer.

Kyo made a sound of disgust. He pulled out from behind the drape. "That Graydon ass just pulled into the dri—"

Tohru's heart tumbled in place. Amber eyes burned into hers. He took a step forward.

"Unfortunately, we don't have time for this." Hatsuharu snapped his gloves back onto his fingers and shoved Kyo in the back. "Ask her."

Kyo shot Hatsuharu a murderous glance before bowing to Tohru. "Miss Havilland—would you care to go riding with us?"

"Why yes, but I'm not dressed for—"

"Bell?" Kyo called into the hall. The butler appeared from a doorway. "Will you tell any callers that Miss Havilland has gone out?" He looked back to Tohru. "You can change quickly, right?"

She nodded.

"Then hurry. Haru and I will hide in the parlor so Graydon can't see us when Bell answers the door."

"But won't he see your horses?"

Mr. Hatsuharu shooed her up the stairs. "Just go change and let us deal with this."

Tohru scampered up the stairs and called for her maid to help her change into the dove gray riding habit the countess had commissioned for her. Normally, she would have her hair swept into a style better suited to the matching hat, but there was no time. Her maid stabbed a few extra pins in her hair to secure the style from that morning and fixed the hat to her head. She plucked her gloves off the dressing table and darted back toward the stairs. Carefully, she listened for Sir John or another newcomer downstairs, but when she heard Mr. Hatsuharu saying something about grooms, she knew the way was clear. She hurried down to join them.

Kyo's head snapped up when he heard her tread on the stairs. She rather hoped he would smile, or even compliment her on her ensemble the way her suitors always did, but he just swallowed and looked away.

Casting his cousin a sidelong glance, Mr. Hatsuharu took Tohru's hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "We're taking the back exit and stopping by the stables to collect our horses and yours. By the way, you look devastatingly lovely, _dolcezza mia._"

Tohru blushed and heard the barest hint of a growl behind her.

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Bellsire nearly wrecked the stables when Kyo entered to fetch his mount, so Tohru selected one of the countess's less spirited mares instead. When they reached Hyde Park, Mr. Hatsuharu pulled alongside Tohru and said, "Shall we take advantage of the early hour with a faster ride before the park fills up?"

She looked to Kyo. To her surprise, a half-smile had formed on his lips. "Yes," she said. Taking up the reins, she clicked her tongue. Her horse stepped into a trot. The men followed suit, and soon they were cantering through the park, enjoying the exercise and the unusually clear London morning.

When they had been riding for some distance, Mr. Hatsuharu's head shot up. He pulled his horse to a stop, leaving Kyo and Tohru no choice but to stop and double back. "Mr. Hatsuharu?" she said. "Is something the matter?"

"I've just spotted an acquaintance. Excuse me." He tipped his hat and turned his horse to ride across the green.

Kyo pulled into her peripheral vision. She saw him brace his hands on his knees. "Ah. Rin."

It must be. The tall, striking lady drove her own phaeton behind a pair of matched bays. Her masses of black hair piled on top of her head beneath the curling feathers of her hat. For a moment, Tohru wished she had such a magnificent frame. But she was short, with normal brown hair and a nice but unremarkable figure, and no amount of wishing would change that. She turned to Kyo and forced herself to smile. "Shall we continue?

He led them back onto the drive, but kept his horse to a walk. "I think I need to make something clear." He glanced over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "I do not gamble."

Her mouth dropped open. Mortification seeped through her frame. Had Mr. Hatsuharu told him everything? "Kyo, I—"

"I can't stand card games. Dice are boring. And losing an entire month's allowance on a horse race when I was twelve cured me of ever trusting a dumb animal with my money again."

Her mouth had gone dry. Beneath her, the mare snorted and tossed its head. It could sense her agitation. What must Kyo think of her?

Abruptly, he turned his horse off the road. Tree branches soared overhead, splashing bits of light across the grass. His hair flashed like fire. Tohru followed, her heart thudding unevenly in her chest.

"Tohru," he said quietly, searching her face. "I'm sorry I disappeared like that last night."

Was this her chance to ask him about his mother? "I have something for which I need to apologize, too," she said. If she didn't get it all out now, she never would. "I was worried you and Mr. Yuki would hurt each other, so I...followed you onto the terrace."

Kyo reared up in the saddle, his eyes wide. "What did you hear?"

"I heard you talking about your mother. And Mr. Yuki telling you to stay away from me because you're polluted." Silently, she begged him to explain. She just couldn't bring herself to ask him outright.

"Oh God," he groaned, turning his gaze up into the trees. A breeze drifted through the leaves, rustling the branches and the shrubbery scattered throughout the grove.

Tohru bit her lip. She hated doing this to him, but the Sohmas had too many secrets for their own good. If she could only help one of them, she wanted it to be Kyo.

As if he'd read her thoughts, he folded his wrists over the pommel and said, "You already know some of my secrets, and yet I know so little about you." His eyes glinted. "If I explain about my mother, will you tell me about your father?"

She caught her breath. Why did everyone want to know about her father lately? Her throat tightened. She turned away so he wouldn't see the tears springing to her eyes.

"Tohru." His voice seemed to break over her name.

Reluctantly, she looked at him. The tears spilled over.

He swung down from his horse and moved closer until she was gazing down into his face. "You don't have to tell me," he said. "I'll even tell you about my mother, only please—don't cry. _Damn_ it, please don't cry."

She drew a deep, shuddering breath. Carefully, she hitched up the wrist of her gloves to wipe her eyes on the back of her hand. "Has anyone ever told you it's impolite to swear at a lady?"

"Yes. Here." He shoved a wadded handkerchief into her hand.

She gave a shaky laugh. "Is this used?"

To her astonishment, a faint blush spread over his cheeks. "It's clean," he muttered.

Tohru had never seen a gentleman blush before. She pressed the handkerchief into a semblance of neat folds and dabbed it beneath her eyes. "Thank you. And it's a deal."

"What?"

"If you tell me about your mother, I'll tell you what happened to my father." She straightened her shoulders and gave him an arch smile. "I'll even go first."

Something whizzed through the air. Pain burst from her temple. Light flashed across her vision. Had her hat turned sideways...?

"Tohru!"

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She felt spongy grass through her gloves. Was she laying on the ground? She forced her eyes open. Kyo was leaning over her, but his eyes were squeezed shut. Was he praying? He sat beside her in his shirt sleeves. His collar hung open, exposing the strong lines of his throat. Then he opened his eyes and the first thing he said was, "If you're going say anything more about your damned hat, I don't care. I threw the thing across the clearing."

Tohru frowned. "My hat?"

"You were half unconscious and kept telling me to fix it."

Unconscious? She tried to sit up but a pulse of pain hit her so hard she nearly cried out.

"Good God, woman, lay still." He pressed something soft against the side of her head. "You have a head wound and the blood hasn't quite stopped."

"What happened?"

His gaze swept toward the shrubs and undergrowth in the wood behind them. He scowled. "Some bastard threw a rock at you. I didn't find him."

"You went after him?"

"Not far, but I figured I might as well try to identify him. I wasn't much use to you as a cat."

She tried to sit up again. "You _transformed?"_

His expression blackened. "How the devil else was I supposed to get you off that horse? Let you fall?"

"But here...in daylight, what if someone saw?"

"I don't know how," he said, quieter this time, "but I managed to fight it. Long enough to carry you over to these bushes before it happened."

Something tightened low in Tohru's stomach. He carried her. He fought the transformation and carried her. "I didn't know that was possible."

His gaze swept over her face. "I didn't either. I always fight it. I always try, but it never worked until now."

Beneath the open collar of his shirt, his chest heaved with the force of his breathing. Gingerly, Tohru pushed herself up on one elbow, easing through the motion until she sat upright in the grass. This was improper. She knew it. What she didn't know or understand was why being with Kyo felt so differently from being with anyone else in the world. It couldn't be that she was in love. Love was flowers and tender words and secret kisses on moonlit balconies. Kyo hadn't said a thing to her about his feelings. He hadn't bought her flowers, and he'd certainly never tried to kiss her.

Oh heavens, what would she do if he tried to kiss her?

Dimly, she was aware of carriage wheels and hoof beats approaching, but it wasn't until a familiar voice called Kyo's name that Tohru tore her eyes away to look.

Mr. Hatsuharu nudged his horse into the grass and dismounted. Behind him, Miss Isuzu Sohma sat absolutely still in her phaeton, her eyes wide. Haru scowled as he approached. "What the devil are you doing to Miss Havilland?"

"Doing my damnedest to protect her, but since _someone_ refused to let me bring a pistol, it's been a trifle difficult."

"You don't bring a pistol on a ride with a lady through Hyde Park," Mr. Hatsuharu crouched at Tohru's side and picked up her wrist. "Are you hurt, _cara mia_?"

A growl rumbled in Kyo's chest. "Stop pretending you're Italian. Someone threw a rock at her. She's got a gouge the size of my thumb on the side of her head and it only just stopped bleeding."

His cousin crossed around to get a better look at her injury, edging Kyo back in the process. "The size of your pinky perhaps, Kyo, though the front looks like it could be deep." He slid his hand under her elbow. "Here, Miss Havilland, let us see if you can stand."

With Mr. Hatsuharu's help on one arm, and Kyo darting around to grab the other, Tohru rose to her feet. Her head throbbed so hard she felt like she might pass out, but the strong hands on her arms held her steady. When her vision began to clear, she asked the men to let her go. "Thank you. Just give me a moment and then I'll be ready to try mounting."

"You are not riding anywhere," Kyo said.

"But—"

"Wait, Tohru." Haru rubbed his chin with the back of his hand. He glanced at Rin. "Miss Isuzu, do you...would you perhaps take Tohru home in your phaeton?"

Rin's nostrils flared. Her eyes swept over Tohru and her fingers clutched the reins tighter. She opened her mouth to speak, but then her eyes fell on Kyo and something changed. She tilted her chin up. "I rather think I shall ride. So Kyo, if you think you can get my horses back to their stable without hurting them in _any way_," those dark eyes glared balefully, "you may drive Miss Havilland home."

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**Regency (and Italian) Lexicon:**

_ladies' seminary_ – a school of secondary or higher level for young women

_hoyden _– a tomboy; a girl who behaves in a boisterous and unladylike manner

_dolcezza mia – "_my sweet"

_phaeton_ – a light, four-wheeled carriage with open sides, with or without a top, with one or two seats, drawn by one or two horses.

_cara mia - _"my heart"

**If anyone knows Italian and would like to correct me, please do! I'll fix my story if it's wrong.**


	18. The Guardcat

**A/N: Big delay getting this one out, so I have to apologize to all of you. I had a couple articles on deadline at the same time, so this got put on the back burner. This was also a hard chapter to write (not sure why). Anyway, I hope you aren't disappointed after having to wait so long. **

**Cassie M. M – Thank you for reviewing as you read through the older chapters! In England, the title is "earl" (it comes from the old Norse title "jarl") even though an earl's wife is called a countess. In the most of Europe though, you're right, the title would be count (or comte). And I'm a total squeeing fangirl at heart too ;-)**

**C Jordan – Yes, Kyo being able to fight off the transformation is a bit of a deviation from the manga/anime rules, but I do have my reasons for it. Hope it holds up ok.**

**crunchikoola11 – They kind of address your guess. What do you think?**

**PhantomSaint – Showdown indeed. Might have to wait a bit for it yet, and of course...romance always comes first ;-)**

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**Chapter 18 – Awaken the Guardcat**

"Rin!" Haru crossed to take her hand. "Are you sure you're up for this? Riding anoth—uh...a horse?"

She swatted his hand away. "I think Ysobel and I can manage between the two of us."

"Ysobel?" Tohru stared at Rin. "You mean the mare? How did you know her name? Oh goodness, are you one of them too? The year of the—"

"Yes, yes," the black-haired beauty said, looping the reins over the bow of her phaeton. She climbed down from her perch. "But I know the horse's name from my encounters with the countess. No other reason."

Kyo's arm remained steady beneath Tohru's hand. He led her to the phaeton and helped her climb aboard. "My thanks, Rin," he said. "And I'll take good care of your team."

Rin was already standing beside the mare, stroking her cheek. "See that you do. Also, do make an attempt at retying your cravat. And where is your coat, anyway? People will see my phaeton and recognize my horses and I won't have it said I lent it to an uncivilized clod."

Grumbling, Kyo stalked off to snatch the rest of his clothing out of the shrubbery. Haru helped him into the fashionably tight shoulders of his coat and made an attempt at salvaging his crushed linen cravat.

When Rin was satisfied, Mr. Hatsuharu crossed to the other end of the clearing and plucked a gray shape off the grass. He gave it a brush with the palm of his hand. "Your hat, Miss Havilland?"

"Oh good!" Tohru took her long-lost hat from his outstretched hand. "I'm so glad it isn't damaged. Thank you, sir."

The phaeton bounced beneath her. Suddenly, she knew Kyo was seated barely an inch from her thigh. Her cheeks went hot. Why couldn't she stop blushing whenever he was near? Steeling herself against the red tide, she slid her gaze to his face.

His expression was grim as he threaded the reins through his fingers. With a whistle and a tap of the reins, he steered them off the grass and onto the main drive through Hyde Park.

A heavy silence lodged between them as Kyo maneuvered the phaeton through the crowds swarming the park. Tohru wanted to talk, but if he needed to focus on driving, the last thing she wanted was to be a chatty female buzzing in his ear.

At last, he steered them through the gate. They merged into the bustling traffic of London. "So much for a pleasant ride in the park," he muttered beside her.

"Oh, no," Tohru said quickly. "It was lovely. I really did enjoy myself. Well, before—"

"Before I made you cry or before some bastard tried to brain you?"

At his words, an invisible band tightened around her lungs. "So you really think it was intentional?"

His eyes slid to hers.

She looked away. Yes, it was hard to believe a rock thrown that high in Hyde Park could be anything but intentional. "Do you..." she started to say, but her voice sounded weak. She cleared her throat. "Do you think they meant to hit me, or—" She stopped and pressed her lips together. This had something to do with her father's murder. She knew it.

Just when she was starting to feel so safe.

She drew a shaky breath. The ache in her head sharpened. "I told the countess I would share this with no one else, but I'm tired of keeping secrets from everyone. I feel like I can trust you." Hardly knowing how she dared, Tohru gazed up to his profile. "I feel like I _need_ to trust you."

At her admission, Kyo's taut jaw muscles unclenched, but his eyes didn't stray from the horses under his command. He said nothing.

With the cacophony of London traffic pounding through her head, Tohru repeated everything as she'd explained it to the countess: how she'd witnessed her father's death and how his murderers pursued her for days before she finally stumbled onto the Earl of Hundsford's largesse. As she spoke, she kept her eyes on the crowds. Any villain bold enough to trail an earl by night and assault his ward in broad daylight would have no hesitation following her now. Her vigilance kept her from seeing the effect her tale had on Kyo. By the time she finished describing her efforts to stay alive, it was too late.

His teeth were actually bared. A thunderous fury blazed in his eyes. Tohru dug her fingers into the seat cushion to keep from shrinking away. She knew he wasn't angry with her, but truly, she'd never seen Kyo this way.

When she had been silent some moments, he seemed to give himself a shake. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"The countess ordered me to keep it quiet."

"The countess be damned!"

Three elderly ladies glared at Kyo from their barouche.

He muttered something, but Tohru frowned. She was dependent on the Countess of Hundsford for everything, so she didn't take disobeying the woman lightly. He knew Lady Akito. He ought to understand.

"Tohru," he ground out, "I'm sorry. I just...I can't protect you if I don't know you're in danger."

Protect her? Her eyes flew up to his face. "But it is not your responsibility to protect me."

The horses' heads jerked up and Kyo swore as a man wheeled his cart of oranges directly across his path.

"Perhaps..." Tohru bit her lip. "Perhaps now is not the best time to be discussing this."

"This is the only time we can. Propriety says I can't talk to you in private, right?"

"...right..."

Kyo squared his shoulders. "And we're almost to Sohma House, so we'd better make this quick. Do you think you can recognize either of the men who attacked your father?"

_A man with gaunt cheeks and a hooked nose._ Tohru swallowed hard. "One of them. The other...I'm not as sure. But the man who actually killed him I would know in an instant."

"Had you ever seen him before that night?"

"No...I don't think so. They had the look of seamen, so I wouldn't know them from the village." She looked up to his face.

"That's a start. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the guy. I will give my address to Bell so you can send word to my lodgings the moment you see anything. Or," his scowl deepened, "if anything else occurs."

Before she quite knew what happened, they were in the drive outside Sohma House and her hand was on his forearm. "Kyo, please, I shouldn't have told you. It isn't your responsibility to look after me."

He stared at the place where she touched him.

Ignoring the look in his eyes to press on with what she had to say took every bit of effort she could muster. "I can't tell you what a relief it is to have told someone other than Lady Akito. It's very gentlemanly of you to be concerned—"

"It's got nothing to do with being a gentleman." He tore his arm from under her hand and swung down out of the phaeton. He crossed around to her side and stuck his hand up in the air for her to take.

Tohru took his hand, aware of the way his fingers tightened around hers. A wave of dizziness swept up through her head. She steadied herself against the rail.

"What's wrong?" He seized her other hand. "Do you feel faint?"

"A...a bit."

"Wait here." Kyo bounded up the steps and pounded on the front doors. When Bell answered, Kyo said something and gestured to Tohru.

The Sohma's butler nodded. He followed Kyo down the steps and after a quick "How do you do?" to Tohru, he swept her out of the phaeton and carried her into the house.

Mortified by her own weakness, Tohru stared at the buttons of her habit and tried to turn her thoughts to Kyo's instructions. She would have to be especially vigilant from now on, watching for anything suspicious or any men she recognized from Chideock.

Bell laid her on her bed and called for the countess and Tohru's maid. Lady Akito arrived first. She breezed into the bedroom in a burgundy walking dress, complete with feathered turban. With a fair imitation of motherly concern, she sank onto the bed and took Tohru's hand in hers. "Well, well. Kyo took care of you, didn't he."

"Oh, no," Tohru pushed herself up onto her elbows. "My lady, the rock was thrown in Hyde Park—a perfectly safe area—and Kyo did everything he could to see to my health after that. He couldn't have known it would happen."

The countess's eyes widened ever so slightly. With apprehension, Tohru realized this was the first time she'd ever contradicted the woman outright. But instead of lashing out, the Lady Akito moved down the bed so Nell, Tohru's maid, could bathe her wound.

While the girl worked, Tohru fought to keep silent during the occasional stabs of pain. Instead, she focused on the countess, who sat like a statue at the foot of the bed.

"You've made quite a conquest in Sir John Graydon, you know," the countess said. "He seemed most disappointed to have missed you this morning. And Mr. Marrell arrived soon after he left, and waited nearly an hour for you to return. He's very well off. You could have either one with only the slightest encouragement."

Tohru grimaced to hide the pang of unhappiness she knew would show in her eyes.

The countess sighed. "When you are feeling better, we will discuss which one you'll choose." The rustle of her skirts followed her out of the room, and at last, Tohru was alone with the maid and her thoughts.

"Is it bad, Nell?"

"Not so bad, Miss." The girl folded her cloth over to a clean spot and dabbed at the wound. "Once it starts to mend, that French maid what serves her ladyship can do your hair to cover it. Just lay still, now."

Tohru stared at the pale blue canopy over her bed. Neither Sir John nor Mr. Marrell were unattractive—Sir John was actually downright handsome. But the idea of marrying either one of them...indeed the idea of marrying any man dug a well of sadness in her heart.

Any man but Kyo.

Moisture pricked at her eyes. Nell fussed and said it couldn't hurt that badly, which made Tohru give a shaky laugh. She wanted to tell the girl that yes, love can indeed hurt badly. She sucked in a deep breath. She loved Kyo.

But realizing the truth only made it worse. The countess had taken steps to become her legal guardian, and she would never give her blessing to such a marriage. Tohru wondered if she was hysterical to even worry about this when she didn't know if Kyo felt the same way.

Caring about her safety was one thing. Passionate, vibrant Kyo Sohma wanting to leg-shackle himself to dull Tohru Honda for the rest of his life was another matter entirely.

Nell dropped her rag into the basin and hefted it onto her hip. "There. I'll fetch some bandage to tie that head of yours until Dr. Hatori gets here to do you up proper. Don't you go to sleep before I come back."

Tohru watched the girl who'd appointed herself Tohru's chambermaid go, and thanked her guardian angel for putting her in such capable hands. If only her heart was safe as well.

Could cursed Sohmas even marry regular humans?


	19. Into the Snake's Lair

**A/N: We're moving right along here. :-)**

**Disclaimer: Natsuki Takaya owns Fruits Basket and all its characters. I just play with them. **

Chapter 19 – Into the Snake's Lair

The door to the library swung open on noiseless hinges. Bell clasped his hands behind his back. "Miss Uotani and Miss Hanajima to see Miss Havilland, my lady."

For the first time in days, something other than dread quickened Tohru's heart. She looked up from her book. The countess looked up from the decaying tome at her desk, thought a moment, then waved her hand. "'We will receive them in the drawing room."

"Very good, my lady." The butler bowed out and closed the door behind him.

"I suppose this is about the long-promised walk." Lady Akito rose to her feet. "You are not yet fit for exercise, so I sent word around to Lady Hanajima that when the girls decided to call, she should send them off in a barouche and nothing less." She pulled a timepiece out of her pocket and seemed to study the filigree cover before opening it to check the time. "A drive will do you more good now than anything."

Tohru's headaches were very nearly gone. The prospect of a drive with girls—a drive with friends—renewed her naturally hopeful spirit. If she kept her focus, and thought hard, she was bound to find a way past her feelings for Kyo...she had to. It was the only way to carve out some kind of happiness with the men she _could _have. The men who wanted her.

When she entered the drawing room in the wake of the countess, Miss Uotani jumped to her feet and held out her hands. "Tohru! I'm relieved to see you looking so well after what happened."

Lady Akito's shoulders stiffened, but Tohru pretended not to notice the American's brash way of speaking. She took Arisa's hands in her own and gave them a squeeze. "I am better, thank you. You look well yourself. And you too, Miss Hanajima."

Instead of responding, Miss Hanajima turned her disconcerting gaze on the countess. "We brought the barouche, my lady."

"Though some real exercise would do you more good," Arisa added.

The countess flashed one of her most lethal smiles. "Our doctor thinks otherwise."

Tohru threw herself into the breach. "Can they come upstairs to help me select something suitable for a drive, my lady?"

"Yes." Lady Akito made a show of looking at her timepiece. "I have an appointment soon anyway. You girls can see yourself out?"

"Yes, thank you, my lady," Miss Hanajima said, lowering herself to a deep curtsy.

Mollified, the countess strode out of the room.

"I don't think she likes me," Miss Uotani said when Tohru's guardian had gone.

Miss Saki Hanajima began tugging her gloves off, finger by finger. "Your voice carries dreadfully, Arisa. Let's get Tohru changed before you get us kicked out of the house without her."

"Yes do," Tohru said quickly. "This way." She led the girls up the stairs to her room and flung open the wardrobe holding the rainbow of gowns the Sohmas had purchased for her use. They really had been most generous. "Is it warm out?"

"Not particularly. Here." Saki hardly glanced at the clothes before drawing out a green striped walking dress with matching spencer. "You should be comfortable in this. Have you a maid?"

"Don't bother. I can help her," came the American voice.

To Tohru's amazement, Arisa already had the gown half-unbuttoned. "Miss Uotani—do you dress yourself?" Tohru sometimes thought she was odd to feel more comfortable dressing herself than letting others dress her. As she reached around and began unbuttoning her dress, she began to wonder if more in America were anything like the astonishing Miss Uotani.

"When I can get away with it. But Saki has so many maids!" Arisa rolled her eyes. "Underfoot and in the way, I say."

Miss Hanajima sat on the foot of the bed, unflappably calm. "They need employment. I give it to them."

"_All _of them," Arisa said, laughing. "She has a veritable army now. Here now, are you ready for me to toss this over your head?" She held open the walking dress.

When they had Tohru changed, the girls traipsed downstairs and out into the street, where Viscount Hanajima's barouche sat waiting for them. Arisa leaped up first and took Tohru's hand to help her up ahead of Saki. They settled into the open carriage and with a word to the driver, they were off.

London rolled by at the leisurely pace of three ladies with no destination and nothing to do but enjoy themselves. Here and there overhead, the clouded sky tried to look blue. Tohru smiled to herself. She appreciated the effort.

"So. I hear that ass Sir John is probably going to offer for you," Miss Uotani said from her sprawled position in one corner of the barouche. "Though the hereditary title wouldn't be so bad."

Tohru clenched her hands in her lap. Was Arisa just speaking from gossip? In her mind, she saw red hair shading a down-turned profile. She had to stop thinking about him. But what _could _she do?

"Arisa, look what you've done. This is supposed to be an enjoyable outing." Miss Hanajima took Tohru's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. Something crackled in the air around the barouche. "Is it Mr. Kyo Sohma?"

Tohru gripped Saki's hand tighter. On a croak, she said, "Is who...?"

"Ah, just as I thought." Saki patted the back of her hand. "Everything will work out."

Arisa frowned. "What? Are you reading minds again?"

"Arisa." Miss Hanajima's eyes darkened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The words were a deliberate message. Miss Uotani slumped lower in her seat and gazed out at the elegant square. No corset in the world would allow such abominable posture—she must not be wearing one.

Tohru turned her thoughts to Miss Hanajima's mysteriously perceptive abilities. She was not thinking about Kyo. She wasn't.

Suddenly, Arisa sat up straight. "Oh lord!" she laughed. "Look at that frightful old quiz."

Following Miss Uotani's rudely pointing finger, Tohru recognized Sir Ayame Sohma stepping out of the largest town mansion she'd ever seen. He was dressed in shades of rosé cream with burgundy accents. Lace spilled from his wrists and throat, and a giant ruby winked from the head of his walking stick. An idea seized Tohru's imagination. "Are we in Grosvenor Square?" she asked her companions.

Miss Hanajima pointed at the nearest street sign.

Tohru ducked. "Oh yes, I see. Sorry. But you see I know that man. And please don't call him a frightful old quiz, Arisa, he's quite kind."

"And the looniest thing I've seen in a twelvemonth. Look at that coat!"

"He's Sir Ayame Sohma." She tried to appear nonchalant. "Mr. Kyo Sohma's uncle."

Miss Uotani's eyes narrowed. She watched Sir Ayame saunter down the front steps of his house. "I see."

"Could we...if you don't mind, I mean, but could we drive over there? He invited me for a visit, I just..." she fidgeted with her reticule, "I have been too ill to take him up on his offer."

Arisa turned in her seat and hallooed to the driver. "Take us 'round to that house there. Yes. The one with the frippery cove out front."

Again, that strange crackling sensation hummed through the air. "I can't imagine my aunt let you learn those cant expressions in America," Saki Hanajima said as the barouche wheeled around to Sir Ayame's side of the square.

"Oh lord, no. Our slang is completely different. I had to start all over when I arrived here."

Miss Hanajima shook her head. "And the potential husbands just get farther out of reach."

The barouche rolled to a stop. Tohru waved and called to Sir Ayame, who was poking one of the rosebushes near his gate with the top of his walking stick.

He turned at his name. A smile burst over his face. "Why it's young Miss Havilland! Have you remembered at last your promise to visit an old man?"

"If it isn't too much trouble."

He struck the sidewalk. "Preposterous."

"Oh!" Tohru sat up straight. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced you. Sir Ayame, this is Miss Saki Hanajima and her American cousin, Miss Arisa Uotani. This is Sir Ayame Sohma, late of India. He's my guardian the earl's brother."

Sir Ayame bowed his head to Tohru's friends. "Miss Uotani. Miss Hanajima. I believe I know your father, Viscount Edward Hanajima, yes?"

"You are correct, sir."

"And Miss Havilland, how clever you are! Two young ladies make this visit perfectly acceptable, no need to involve the grumpy-puss countess, now eh? Come along then. I was setting out for a walk, but with company I can walk in my own house just as easily." One by one, he helped them out of the barouche and lead them up the stairs to his house. He stopped and offered Tohru his arm. "I have been back from India for two years now, and I think I am tolerably settled in. You will perhaps evaluate that for me?"

His energy was infectious. Tohru couldn't help smiling back.

Inside the cavernous foyer, a hodge podge of oriental artifacts set inside niches meant for the more traditional Greco-Roman busts. The mahogany staircase swept up into landings, and at the center stood a bronze statue with far too many arms and far too little clothing.

"Shiva, dancing the world out of chaos."

Tohru realized she'd been staring at the heathen statue and blushed. The pride had been evident in Sir Ayame's voice, so tried to hide how much the nudity shocked her. "Is it from India?"

"Yes, and a particular favorite of mine. Come, let me show you the drawing room." He started toward a set of double doors, stopped, and considered the three girls for a moment. "On second thought, let's not view the drawing room. I think you would better enjoy my conservatory and the Chinese garden outside."

"You have a Chinese garden?"

But Sir Ayame had no chance to respond to Arisa's question before everyone heard the careful tread in the hall. They turned to see Mr. Yuki Sohma standing with his hand on the stair rail.

"Miss Uotani," he said, then almost as if he'd startled himself, he bowed to Tohru and Miss Hanajima. "Ladies, I...I did not realize." His eyes swept up to his uncle and hardened. "Sir. I was not aware you would be entertaining today._"_

Sir Ayame cocked his head to one side. "Oh don't be mad, Yuki, please don't be. I invited Miss Havilland at the ball, you remember, and her friends—" He must have seen Mr. Yuki's apprehensive glance at the naked idol dancing at the top of the stairs because he switched tactics. "I am not taking them to the drawing room, you see, aren't you proud? We're going to the conservatory and the Chinese garden instead."

Mr. Yuki tapped his fingers on the railing. He pursed his lips. "I suppose that is alright then. Might I join you?"

The older man seemed to grow about two inches taller. He straightened his embroidered lapels. "Of course. This way, Miss Havilland."

Tohru glanced over her shoulder to see Yuki offer Miss Hanajima his arm and at that moment Arisa looked more vulnerable and hurt than she had ever seen her. She recalled introducing Miss Uotani to Mr. Yuki nearly a month ago, but she hadn't expected anything to come of it. Did Arisa have a one-sided love?

The conservatory was a hall-like enclosure bounded on three sides by pane-glass windows. Heat simmered in air thick with the perfume of flowers. She reached out to touch the sunny yellow petals of a bloom she'd never seen before. "This is exquisite, Sir Ayame."

"Thank you," he said simply, smiling over his verdant empire. "But Miss Uotani does not seem to be enjoying herself. Too hot? Let us go on out into the Chinese garden."

Again, Tohru shot a worried glance at her friend. She had expected the American to pepper Sir Ayame with all sorts of questions, but she kept her silence, alternating between frowning and flicking dagger glances at Yuki.

The Chinese garden looked like something out of the exotic dressing screen Lady Akito kept in her room. Diminutive trees flowered in groves. A brook flowed beneath the graceful arch of a bridge and disappeared through reeds and trailing flower vines. It looked nothing like a traditional English garden.

Miss Hanajima found a bench and sat down. Tohru half-expected Sir Ayame to stop with her, but he didn't seem to notice, and as she walked away on his arm, she overheard Saki telling Mr. Yuki and Arisa to leave her in peace.

Ah, so the perceptive Miss Saki had decided to take matters into her own hands. Tohru glanced at her gloved hand where it lay on the cream-and-rose embroidery of Sir Ayame's coat sleeve. His wealth was staggering. "Are real Chinese gardens like this?"

He reared up, his eyes wide. "Real? But this _is_ a real Chinese garden. I imported all the plants myself, and the accouterments come straight from inland China. I assure you, there is nothing—"

"Sir Ayame, please forgive me. I meant no offense." Tohru laid her other hand on his arm. "I only referred to gardens _in_ China. But you see," she laughed, "you have already answered my question. If the plants are the same, and the décor is the same, then the answer must be yes."

"Oh." He beamed. "Yes of course. I made an intensive study of Chinese botany while I traveled the mainland."

"You traveled inland from India to China? Isn't that a horribly long journey?"

"Both countries are enormous, but that's the whole reason I went," he lowered his voice and glanced over his shoulder, "I took the assignment in India all those years ago to gain a better vantage point."

Tohru frowned. "Vantage point?"

"Aye." His eyes seemed to gleam. "To learn about the curse."

**Regency Lexicon:**

_barouche – _a type of carriage with four wheels, a folding hood, and two seats facing each other inside.

_spencer – _a short jacket worn by ladies

_quiz_ – an object or person who invites stares

_reticule_ – a purse usually made of cloth, often beaded, with a drawstring closure

_frippery_ - pretentious elegance; ostentation. Something trivial or nonessential.

_cove – _a man, usually upperclass (slang)

_accouterments_ – accessories, accompanying decorations


	20. Thereby Hangs a Curse

**A/N: Thank you all for the reviews :-) Some of you wondered why Sir Ayame wouldn't take the girls into his drawing room, so you'll get that answer and much more here. I know we haven't had much Kyo lately, but it is coming, I promise. I might be five or six chapters from the end, although that could be way off base. So just bear with me, and keep reviewing when you have time. I love speculation!**

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

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Chapter 20 – Thereby Hangs a Curse

_To learn about the curse._

Sir Ayame's whispered confession echoed in Tohru's brain. Instinctively, she drew back, part of her wanting some distance, the other part longing to stay. When he spoke about his family's secret, his eyes seemed to glow from within—and Tohru wasn't sure what to make of that. She checked the path behind them for her friends, but they were no where in sight. "Sir Ayame, are you one of the animals of the zodiac?"

He peered down at her a moment, then nodded. "Alas, I would not be pleasing to you in my other form, so I shall stay like this if you don't mind."

"What—" she swallowed hard, "what _is_ your other form?"

His eyes seemed to glow again. "The snake."

Tohru sucked in a breath.

Quickly, he patted her hand. "But of course I would never bite you or any other human, and I'm a _divinely_ pretty snake. I'm very sleek—all white with iridescent scales."

That did sound like it could be lovely. Tohru eyed the slim, middle-aged man decked out in all his eccentric finery and decided his zodiac spirit suited him. Perhaps snakes weren't all vile creatures. "Did you find answers then? In China?"

"Nothing terribly useful. I was able to piece together a fairly accurate picture of how my great-great grandfather got his family into this mess, but no one I spoke with seemed to have any idea how to get us out of it."

"How did he—how did the Sohmas get cursed?"

Sir Ayame laid a hand over his heart. "I fear it is a tale too harrowing for a lady's ears."

Tohru was getting to know Kyo and Yuki's uncle well enough now that she almost laughed. Instead, she tried to sound wise. "Often a problem is attacked best from more than one side."

"If I told you, Shigure would have my hide for his shoes." He shuddered.

"Please tell me...you can't bring me here to this beautiful garden and mention a harrowing tale about my—about my adopted family, the only people I have left in the world, and not...and not..." Tohru was astonished when real tears pooled in her eyes.

Sir Ayame froze. His skin went as white as his meticulously powdered hair. "Miss Havilland! Good heavens. Good heavens," he repeated to himself, looking frantically for a source of rescue. He spun away from Tohru's hands and twirled to the top step of a red gazebo styled to resemble an oriental pagoda. "Come sit," he said, but his eyes scanned the gardens around them as he spoke.

Tohru followed him up the short steps and as she turned to sit, she realized that though the pagoda was surrounded on most sides by tall grasses, if she stood up straight she could see over and to the rest of the gardens. Some forty yards away, Mr. Yuki and Arisa lingered over a pond, pointing at orange, red, and white shapes in the water. Could those colorful creatures be fish?

Miss Hanajima was nowhere to be seen.

Instinct demanded Tohru insist on finding her missing friend. Saki shouldn't be in danger here at Sir Ayame's house, and yet since Tohru had been the one to make the introduction, she felt a certain degree of responsibility toward her friend.

But as she dabbed her tears on her handkerchief, she thought of the curse, and her vow to do everything she could to help the Sohmas. If she asked to go find Saki now, would she ever have Sir Ayame so near to confessing everything again?

Praying that God would forgive her and keep Saki safe, Tohru looked up into the gentleman's still-wary face. "Please, Sir Ayame. Don't you want to tell someone?"

"I have." His expression grew almost stern as he stared out over the swaying grasses. "Hatori knows."

The doctor? Belatedly, Tohru remembered Dr. Hatori was Ayame's younger brother. Why had he told his little brother and not the head of the family?

Of course, given what she knew of the earl and countess, they seemed disinclined to upset the status quo. Had Sir Ayame hoped Dr. Hatori would lend his weight to further research on breaking the curse? She took a chance. "But the doctor doesn't think anything can be done?"

Sir Ayame grimaced. "You have the crux of it. Very well." He laid one hand over his heart and held his other hand out in the style of a Roman orator. "My great grandfather was only Lord Charles Sohma, a minor baronet, when he traveled to China in 1699. He went to help the East India Company establish a trading post in Macao, but instead of staying in Macao with all the other 'foreigners,' he sneaked inland in search of new and better teas. The mission was a success—he came home with the carefully guarded plants England needed to grow her own tea, and as his reward, King William III created him Earl of Hundsford."

Suddenly, Sir Ayame's voice dropped in pitch. "But the earldom came with a terrible price," he said, his eyes glowing. "Lord Charles infiltrated the grand house of a prefect to gain access to gardens. These 'houses' are more like small cities, with walls and guard towers. Shops and drinking establishments exist for the peasants and travelers. He was disguised—probably as a mute peasant, since he was not fluent in the language—when a guard saw through his face paint and gave chase. In the scuffle, a young girl died.

"Lord Charles escaped the guards, but not the mother. She cornered him, yelling at him in a Chinese dialect he didn't know. And then suddenly her voice changed into a deep, rolling growl, speaking words he understood. That must have been when he—when we were all cursed."

A shiver traveled up Tohru's spine. "How did you learn all this?"

"Stories from Lord Charles' travels in China are well-known in my family, but he never spoke of the curse or how he acquired it. I knew from his letters which prefecture he loathed—he described it as 'the Devil's own country.' On that hunch, I traveled there and interviewed the peasants for any folktales of a 'foreign devil' lord who had been there a hundred years ago. The local storyteller, an old man, knew the tale.

"According to their story, the woman at first accused the lord of killing her daughter, and asked for money in reparation, but he showed no compassion for her loss and shoved her, trying to get away. Then her voice dropped to a demon's growl and she began speaking foreign words. The storyteller said the lord seemed to age ten years in a matter of seconds, so he must have understood perfectly."

With a heavy sigh, Sir Ayame sagged onto the seat beside her. Tohru squeezed her hands together in her lap, deep in thought. A woman in the most wretched throes of grief had cursed Lord Charles and all his descendants...but what exactly had she said? "Did the woman in the story remember what she told him? Later, I mean?"

"No, the only thing she remembered was telling him to beg her daughter for mercy."

"Beg her daughter...but hadn't the girl died?"

The gentleman braced his hands on his knees. "The Chinese worship their ancestors, so for them, a dead girl's spirit is very powerful and can even take action in the world of the living. But it's no use. That doesn't tell me a thing about how to break the curse. I even tried begging the girl's spirit for mercy, but it didn't work."

All this talk of dead girls and spirits made Tohru even more anxious to find her friend Saki. "Sir Ayame," she began, searching for the right words, "I'm sure you have done more than anyone ever has to end the curse, and your hard work can't have been in vain. I will think on what you've told me and share my theories the next time we meet. Any help is better than none at all, right?" She finished with a smile.

The fine wrinkles around his eyes and mouth seemed to fade. "You are a mountain brook in a sea of brine," he said, taking her hands between his. "If only I were ten years younger."

"Sir!" Tohru pulled her hands free to hold them to her burning cheeks.

"Do not be alarmed, _ma cherie_. You are in no danger from me. Shall we resume the walk?"

It was just the opening she needed. With a deep breath, she pulled herself together. "Yes, in fact I have lost sight of my friend, Miss Hanajima. Do you think we could find her?"

Sir Ayame rapped his walking stick on the pagoda floor and popped to his feet. "Why yes. And I suppose I should propose that we round up Yuki and that American lady," he winked, "but that would hardly be sporting, now would it?"

Miss Uotani had been right. Sir Ayame really was something of a scandalous character. Though Tohru believed him when he said she had nothing to fear, they'd been visiting for more than half an hour. It might be best to collect her friends and get on their way.

Their path wound through ornamental trees, skirting the fish pond she'd seen Yuki and Arisa admiring earlier. Just when Tohru began to suspect Sir Ayame of prolonging their return, the vegetation parted to reveal the conservatory doors. Just inside, Mr. Yuki was reaching up to touch a scarlet flower, speaking to Arisa with the kind of animation Tohru had never seen in him before. His love—for the plant—was clear.

"The amarylis," Sir Ayame said, as if she'd asked. "A part of the collection Yuki keeps here for when he visits. I wonder if your friend has seen many flowers like it in America."

Arisa seemed to surprise Yuki into laughter, which he then tried to cover by coughing. He looked up. "Uncle. Miss Havilland." He stepped out of the open conservatory doors, the kind smile she'd always loved lighting his face. "Have you enjoyed the garden?"

"Yes, very much. It is so different from any other garden of my experience," Tohru said, then plunged right into her question. "Have you seen Miss Hanajima?"

"Saki?" Arisa moved to stand at Mr. Yuki's side. "She told us she was going to sit on a bench—"

"And I did," a cool voice said from beyond their sight. Miss Hanajima bustled out from behind a towering row of indoor trees, brushing her hands on her waist. "But then I felt poorly and went in search of a place to rest my head. Please forgive me if I did anything untoward."

"You—uh, no apology necessary," Yuki said, flashing his uncle a warning look. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Unfortunately no. Arisa, Tohru, do you think we might head home now?"

Evidently, Miss Hanajima wanted to get out of Sir Ayame and his nephew's earshot as soon as possible. Tohru broke from his side and laid her hand on Saki's arm. "Of course. I ought to rest myself."

Sir Ayame called for the barouche to be brought around, and together, he and Yuki handed the girls into their carriage. "Rest well, my dears," Sir Ayame said with a tilt to his hat. "May your dreams be as sweet as you are."

Tohru thought she heard Arisa snort, but ignored it for Sir Ayame's sake. Miss Hanajima gave a signal to her family's driver and away they went, waving goodbye.

"All right, Saki, out with it," Arisa said when they were no longer within earshot of Grosvenor Square. "You went snooping."

"Merely answering some questions that would be too rude to ask outright."

Tohru braced her hands over her knees. "What were your questions? What did you learn?"

"Sir Ayame did not take us into the drawing room because it is decorated with spectacularly indecent statues, as well as paintings of nude men and women from the Indian subcontinent."

Laughing, Arisa snapped open her fan. "Is that all? Well, it's a good thing he thought better of it. Tohru doesn't need to be exposed to that kind of thing, and I wouldn't have hesitated to tell him so to his face."

"Yes, well, he got lucky there. Unbeknownst to him, he had a visitor waiting for him in the drawing room. Mr. Yuki was coming down to see the visitor when we arrived, but he didn't know the man's identity."

Tohru scooted forward in her seat. "How do you know all this? Did you speak to him?"

"Yes, he claims to be a distant relative of the family." Saki's enigmatic eyes rested on Tohru's as she added, "From Scotland."

Scotland! Kyo had lived in Scotland during the years Mr. Yuki was at school at Eton. He could have been sent to live with a relative. Could this man...was there a connection?

Tohru looked from Arisa's mildly intrigued expression to Saki's half-smile. She struggled to swallow. "Did he give you his name?"

"Yes. Mr. Kazuma Sohma."


	21. Master Kazuma Speaks

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the property of Natsuki Takaya. I only play with her characters for fun.**

**A/N: Well I completely fell off my schedule this time, but you'll be happy to see I'm posting the equivalent of two chapters at once as my apology! It just kept going and going, and before I knew it I had 4,000+ words. I wasn't sure if I should break it up, but I decided I'd written it as one chapter, so it will stay as one chapter. **

**Also, we are definitely coming into the home stretch now. Instead of doling it out a chapter at a time as I write them, the last four or five or even six chapters (however many it takes) will all go up at once—that way I get the chance to make sure it all works cohesively, and you get uninterrupted reading all the way to the end. Yay! :-) **

**Of course, it may take me a month to get that up, so if you haven't already put "The Taming of the Cat" on your Story Alert list, you might want to. That way you don't have to keep checking for the Grand Finale until it goes up. **

**And now...it's Kyo Time! (hehehe)**

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**Chapter 21 – Master Kazuma Speaks**

Saki's revelation on the ride back from Sir Ayame's house stayed with Tohru for the better part of a week. She went through the daily motions of life, but her thoughts always returned to the problem of the Sohmas' curse, and where this Kazuma Sohma person fit into the picture.

Tohru straightened the bit of lace she was mending over her knee and glanced out her bedroom window. When Arisa had asked Saki how Kazuma entered the house without Sir Ayame knowing, Miss Hanajima's lips had curved into her secretive smile. "He seems to be the kind of man who...doesn't need the front door."

So who then, was this man? A distant relative who lived in Scotland was all Saki would say. All these mysteries made Tohru's head hurt, and so much time had passed that she could hardly blame the incident in Hyde Park. Resolving to get some fresh air, she laid her mending in the workbasket and rose from her seat.

Now that June was here, London was growing positively warm. Tohru knew she wouldn't have much more time before either her Season ended or one of her suitors proposed. She brushed a tendril of brown hair from her forehead and took her parasol from the stand in the hall. She would just stroll a bit in the garden adjacent to the front of Sohma House—there would be no harm in going there unescorted.

However, just when she opened the door, a traveling carriage lumbered out of the thick stream of traffic and clattered to a stop before the gates. Almost before the grooms jumped down to steady the horses, the door flung open and Master Hiro Sohma bounded out, waving his hat in the air. "Miss Tohru! Miss Tohru! Kisa said we wouldn't arrive until the dinner hour, but I was right, we're here right after luncheon."

Laughing in spite of herself, Tohru descended the rest of the steps. "What a delightful surprise." She reached out and shook his hand. "And Kisa!" she said when the tawny-haired girl stepped out of the carriage, blinking in the bright afternoon sun. "I had no idea you were coming to London."

Kisa smiled and ducked her head. "It was Kagura's idea."

Just then, a vision in green sprigged muslin and the long, glossy curls of a schoolgirl stepped out of the carriage. She stood taller than Kisa, and with a flash Tohru remembered Dr. Hatori's daughter was fifteen and on holiday from the ladies' seminary she attended. "Are you Miss Kagura?" Tohru said with a welcoming smile. "You must be a lady of considerable persuasive abilities to have brought Miss Kisa all this way into London."

"Oh yes," Kagura said frankly, "I am."

Tohru blinked. The girl certainly knew her own strength.

Dr. Hatori emerged from the other side of the carriage. He doffed his hat, exposing his thick black hair to the breeze. "It is good to see you in health again, Miss Havilland. The earl asked me to return to check on you again, but I see that was just a precaution. I do hope you don't mind me bringing this brood along. It, ah," he glanced at his daughter, "couldn't be helped."

"Oh, not at all," Tohru said, taking Kisa's hand and squeezing it. "It is so good to see my friends again, and to have the opportunity to make a new one. This is just want I needed."

The hard lines around his mouth faded. In that moment of relief, and even with his eyepatch, Dr. Hatori looked younger—much too young to have a fifteen year old daughter. Once again, Tohru wondered if there was a story there, but she had too many secrets to muddle through as it was. She would just have to let sleeping dogs...cats...Sohmas lie.

Hiro sauntered across the bottom step, his hands thrust in his pockets like any other man-about-town. "I want to see the Tower," he announced. "Who will come with me?"

Kisa's cheeks flushed as she glanced from her brother to Tohru and back again. "Hiro, we just arrived, and you want to go _now?"_

"I've never been to London." He stopped just behind Tohru. "Miss Tohru will take me." Leaning close, he whispered, "I refuse to call you that trumpery name, so you will just be 'Miss Tohru' to me."

Tohru managed to nod without laughing, then tried to allay Kisa's concerns. "You are tired, why don't you rest while Hiro and I ride to the Tower of London and back. I'm sure we can find a groom or two to accompany us."

"No!" Kagura pulled her bonnet off her back and fixed it over her curls. "Kisa and I have never been to London either. We _refuse _to miss the tour."

Flabbergasted, Tohru blinked at the girl. "Tour?"

"Just one moment," Dr. Hatori said. "Miss Havilland, are the earl and countess at home?"

"The countess is out on calls, and the earl is in his study."

"Hiro, Kisa, run inside and greet your father. I'll have a cup of tea while the grooms prepare an open carriage, and then I'll take you all on a tour. I have business in the City, anyway."

Dr. Hatori's mellow voice had a taming effect on the group of young people. Halfway up the steps, Hiro must have remembered decorum, because by the time he reached Bell at the open door, he smoothed his pace to a stroll. Kisa followed behind him with Dr. Hatori at her side, leaving Miss Kagura and Tohru to bring up the rear.

Instead of climbing the steps, the younger girl stared at Tohru. "So you're the outsider who knows the family affliction."

Something in her voice made Tohru's pulse jump. She nodded.

Miss Kagura climbed onto the first step. "And you are great friends with Kyo."

Now Tohru's heart gave a painful lurch. Could she even lay claim to that? "I'm not sure I would say _great_ friends..."

"Ha!" The girl smacked Tohru's arm with her fan. "I'm glad to hear it." She began skipping up the stairs, swinging her skirts as she went. Just before the doorway, she twirled and said, "Because I love Kyo in spite of what he will become, and I defy anyone to stand in our way."

Bell stood sentry at the door, but Tohru drifted past him like a wraith, her thoughts consumed by those few words. _I love Kyo in spite of what he will become._ What did Kagura mean? And was there an understanding between Kyo and his cousin? Tohru's heart plunged into her stomach. Evidently, he hadn't felt it necessary to share this detail with her.

She pictured his face. Saw his rare smile and the heat she often sensed in his eyes. He couldn't be hers, she knew that. And she loved him anyway.

The earl was delighted to see his children. He told his brother to leave the countess to him. Lord Shigure explained that he didn't expect much trouble since Kisa had come to town without Lady Akito's urging, and that might be enough to neutralize the news that their latest governess had quit the previous week.

When he learned of the plan to go sightseeing, Lord Shigure advised his son to look out for the ladies on their trip. "The good doctor here is well-enough as a chaperone, but he can get quite caught up in intellectual matters and might not recognize danger."

Hiro stood about two inches taller. "Rely on me, sir."

With a wry quirk of his eyebrow, Dr. Hatori finished his tea.

He lead his charges back outside to the open carriage the earl's servants had prepared for their use. Hiro insisted Tohru sit next to him, and she found herself facing Kagura's smug gaze across the carriage. Such confidence could only mean there really must be a betrothal between Kyo and Miss Kagura. Tohru resolved to hide her heartbreak by engaging her fellow passengers in the sights.

Hiro pronounced the Tower 'disappointing' until Dr. Hatori reminded him of all the grisly events that old castle had seen. Kisa was far more impressed by St. Paul's Cathedral, especially the whispering gallery, which let her whisper on one side of the enormous dome and be heard by Tohru and Kagura on the other side.

Kagura proved a pleasant driving companion. For so young a woman, she was quite skilled at keeping up the flow of conversation. Tohru wanted to like her for Kyo's sake, but she couldn't help feeling the fifteen year old was measuring her in some way, and finding her wanting.

And Tohru did have her pride.

Suddenly, the parks and mansions gave way to the financial houses of Threadneedle Street. Hammerdale & Sons. Watersley's. Tohru turned to address the doctor in the driver's seat. "Are we in the City?"

"Yes, Kagura and I have business at the Bank." As he spoke, he steered the horses out of the flow of traffic and pulled up before a tall white building that seemed half-wall, half-house, and was neither at all. Three layers of columns and high relief statues crowned the entrance, where ironwork vines encased a trio of arched doors. This, then, was the Bank of England. "Miss Havilland, could you stay with Hiro and Kisa while we go inside? It won't take above twenty minutes."

Tohru was still absorbing this temple to finance. She moved her lips. "Of course."

They had been waiting only a few minutes when Hiro pivoted in his seat and pointed at the grandly columned Exchange building across the street. "Good God, is that Kyo?"

"Hiro!" Kisa hissed. "Don't blaspheme. What will Tohru think?"

But Tohru could hardly think at all. The unruly red hair, the hastily tied cravat...the long stride that appealed to her so much more than the mincing steps of most _ton_ gentlemen. She pressed her reticule close to her waist. It was him.

As if he could feel her searching gaze, Kyo swung around. His eyes met hers across the square. He smiled.

Actually _smiled._

Tohru bit her lip. Kagura—there was an arrangement between him and Kagura. She couldn't afford to forget, but seeing his face lit with that kind of clear, unhindered joy, her heart broke a little further. What piercing torture loving was.

Kyo grabbed the elbow of a sharply dressed gentleman and turned him in the direction of the carriage. The man's gray hair was cropped short, and as they approached, Tohru wondered at his decidedly more guarded expression.

"Miss Havilland," Kyo said, his eyes on her alone. "You are looking better. _Well_, I mean," he added hastily. "You're looking well."

She swallowed. "Thank you, Mr. Kyo. It is good to see you as well." Why oh why couldn't she make her voice sound normal?

He looked at her a second longer, then seemed to give himself a shake. "I want you to meet my master. Er," he glanced at the older man, "my old fencing master, Mr. Kazuma Sohma."

Kazuma Sohma! Tohru hid her shock behind a smile. "I'm delighted to meet you, Mr. Kazuma."

"And I you, Miss Havilland." He turned to the boy and girl sitting with her. "Lady Kisa. Viscount Sherbourne." He sketched a courtly bow with ease.

"Viscount Sherbourne?" Tohru glanced around, expecting to find someone new approaching the carriage.

Beside her, Hiro puffed out his chest. "Yes, Viscount. I _am_ heir to an earldom." He laid his hand over Tohru's and leered at Kyo. "Miss Tohru is a most delightful companion."

Kyo's brows lowered, but a second later, he flashed Tohru a mischievous look. "Miss Havilland _does _have a fondness for children."

While Hiro sputtered and Kisa giggled, Tohru willed her insides to calm down. Every look, every smile Kyo sent her way seemed to make her poor heart want to race out of her chest. She couldn't afford these feelings.

A female voice called Kyo's name and he turned, effectively crushing the wings of any hope Tohru had let squeeze out of her chest. Miss Kagura Sohma led her father out of the Bank, her grin eager, almost triumphant. She traipsed up to Kyo's side and looped a hand around his elbow.

Her captive went rigid. He leaned away from the arm she possessed, glancing about like an animal who sensed a trap but hardly knew which way to run. Kagura gazed up at Kyo and gripped his arm tighter. His face flushed, but not with the heat of embarrassment. Kyo was furious.

Tohru watched them closely. Maybe there was a betrothal, but it was not to Kyo's liking?

Beside him, Mr. Kazuma smiled warmly and held his hand out to Tohru. "Miss Havilland. Do ye feel up for a wee bit of walking?"

Confused by Kagura's satisfaction and Kyo's anger, Tohru turned to the Scotsman. No wonder Saki seemed so pleased with him. She had confessed a preference for older men, and this Kazuma possessed an air of rugged capability Tohru suspected Saki found more attractive than an unlined face and a beautifully formed mouth.

A mouth like Kyo's.

She balled a fist in her lap. Mr. Kazuma, she needed to focus on Mr. Kazuma. The man held the answers to so many of her questions, but she could not in good faith abandon Kisa and her brother when she had committed to keeping them company. With reluctance, she shook Mr. Kazuma's hand and then released it. "I'm afraid we haven't yet finished our tour—"

"And the City is an odd place to go for a pleasure walk," Dr. Hatori cut in, using his one eye to good effect on the older man.

"I don't see why," Kagura said suddenly, her eyes flashing. "Why, there are gentlemen and ladies strolling the entire length of Threadneedle Street, and I even see ladies talking in front of the Exchange building." She raised her eyes to Kyo and the brassy edge to her voice disappeared. "You don't mind escorting me while Master Kazuma walks with Tohru? I'm sure he would enjoy it very much."

The slippery little weasel! Tohru bit her lip at her unkind thoughts, but she couldn't watch the indecision warring on Kyo's face and not blame Kagura for putting him in such a bind. It was clear to Tohru that in his ill-temper, Kyo wanted to deliver Kagura a sharp set-down, but with his beloved Master's wishes on the line...

He made a little choking noise in the back of his throat and looked away. "Fine."

That one exchange was all it took to convince Tohru that if a betrothal arrangement existed between Kyo and Miss Kagura, his wishes had nothing to do with it.

The girl turned back to her father, her eyes bright with triumph. "There, you see? We are all in agreement."

"I'm going for a walk, too," Hiro said, jumping up from his seat and reaching for the carriage door.

Dr. Hatori stopped him by laying his hand on the door. "No, my Lord, you will not. Your mother will be home soon, and I will not be accused of letting you run wild through the streets of London. Kisa, are you ready to go back?"

Kisa glanced from Tohru to Kagura and seemed to shrink within herself. "Yes," she said quietly.

"I don't have to walk, really," Tohru insisted.

"Please!"

Everyone, including Mr. Kazuma, turned to see Kyo's face flush bright red. He scowled. "Please, Miss Havilland. Will you walk with Master Kazuma?"

Tohru very nearly said yes on the spot.

She looked at Kisa, who forced a smile and reached over to squeeze Tohru's hand. "Yes, Miss Havilland, do go. I will look forward to talking with you when you return."

Eased by her consent, Tohru climbed down from the carriage, and took Mr. Kazuma's offered arm. She waved goodbye to Kisa and a frowning Hiro—Viscount Sherbourne of all things!—and fell into step behind Miss Kagura and Kyo.

Kagura, Kazuma, and Kyo. Even their names made Tohru feel like the outsider she was...an outsider who cared for this family as deeply as if it were her own. After all, they were the only family she had left.

Beside her, Mr. Kazuma adjusted his hat. "Now, Miss Honda," he said quietly, winking when she turned startled eyes up to his. "No one can hear me. Akito was wise to change yer name...I suspect 'tis what has kept ye alive thus far."

"How...why do you think that?"

"I duna wish to alarm ye, but Kyo invited me down here for some investigating into the attack in the park and the possible connection to your father's murder. Just some quiet inquiries ye know, nothing to cause a stir."

Tohru's throat felt dry. "Have you learned anything useful?"

"Not yet—I prefer to be certain m'self before I go about sharing my findings."

Frustration simmered through Tohru's veins, but the Scotsman continued before she could speak.

"I cana help but notice yer affinity for my godson. Affection, even."

Heart hammering in her ears, Tohru tried to turn her frustration back on him. "I'm sure I don't understand you, sir. Kyo is a friend."

"_Kyo_?" Mr. Kazuma said meaningfully. "A few months' acquaintance is a mighty short time to go from perfect strangers to calling each other by name. For friends, I mean."

Now Tohru's face was burning. She'd slipped and she knew it. "I can assure you, I have no designs, no claim on—on—"

Gently, he laid his hand over hers. "Shh, now, they'll hear. Peace, Miss Honda. You seem like a very good sort of girl, someone I'd be proud to have as my daughter. But you see, I love Kyo as my own son, and I must put him before all others."

She looked at him then, and any animosity she might have felt toward this stranger burned away before the keen feeling that he spoke the truth. Here was a man who loved Kyo as much as she did. Tears sprang to her eyes. Thank God, Kyo had someone like this in his life.

"Miss Honda?" For the first time, Mr. Kazuma looked uneasy. He slowed his pace.

Tohru laughed, reminded of Kyo's panicky look when she'd fought tears in Hyde Park the day of the attack. Perhaps they weren't father and son in the traditional sense, but they made up for it with similar traits. "It's nothing." She dashed at the tears. "I'm just so glad to meet you."

They walked in silence a few yards, and then Mr. Kazuma said, "Miss Honda, I'm afraid I need to tell ye something...something about Kyo."

Puzzled by his grave tone, Tohru whispered, "Sir, you do know I'm aware of the...you know."

"Yes, Kyo told me himself. This is a...well, Hatori and I believe 'tis a side effect of the curse, but 'tis hard to say for sure." Pain filtered into his eyes. "Regardless of how he seems now, Kyo will go mad sometime before his thirtieth birthday—but 'tis likely 'twill be much sooner than that."

Mad? The word rang in Tohru's ears. Mad..._Kyo will go mad?_ "But that's...why it's impossible to know something like that, how can you say...?"

"There have been three cats in our family since my great-grandfather brought this curse home from China. The first two went mad on their thirtieth birthdays." His voice shook with something very like anger. "The first cat was Miss Isuzu's great-grandfather. My father was the second."

Tohru's heart went out to him. Perhaps that was why the old earl sent Kyo to live with Mr. Kazuma in Scotland instead of to Eton with Yuki. To prepare.

She found her voice. "Why does this only happen to the cat? And if those other men went...lost their...well, you know, on their thirtieth birthdays, why did you say it would happen to Kyo _before_ his?"

"The cat is not a proper member of the chinese zodiac. Just like Kyo's stuck on the margins of this family, the cat is an outcast from the rest of the zodiac. Hatori and I theorize that being possessed by the spirit of the embittered cat takes its toll on the host, and in those earlier cases, the tipping point occurred on the host's thirtieth birthday." Mr. Kazuma raised his eyes from the sidewalk and squinted to the far end of Threadneedle Street. "As for why we're certain Kyo's tipping point will come sooner...has he ever told you about his mother?"

"He was about to, that day in Hyde Park, but then after the attack, I was too shaken to remind him, and I haven't seen him in person again until today."

"Kyo's mother's name was Marie, and she was French—not a Sohma. When she gave birth to a child she couldna hold without him turning into a kitten, she went into a deep melancholy. And instead of getting better with each passing day, she got worse. We suspected she was losing her mind. Takeo—Kyo's father—kept reassuring the family that 'twas only a phase, that Marie would get through it, but the old earl didna trust her to keep the family secret, so he had her locked away."

"No!" Tohru gasped.

Mr. Kazuma glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "'Tis not so unusual, you know. There's little else can be done with the mad."

"Oh, but that's terrible!" Tohru pulled on his arm. "The poor woman, she didn't deserve that."

"I wonder if ye'll still think so when I tell ye what happened when Takeo let her out for Christmas back in '93. Yuki heard the gunshot and came running to his father's study. He found Kyo frozen in the doorway, and their father slumped over his desk, bleeding from the forehead. Kyo's mother held a dueling pistol in her hand. She dropped it and then raised the pistol's mate to her head. Yuki says she didn't say anything-just smiled at her son and shot herself. I say 'Yuki says' because Kyo won't talk of it."

Spots crowded before Tohru's vision. She gripped Kazuma's arm for support, and found herself staring at the red head of hair nearly a block away from them. Kyo had witnessed...and Yuki had found them. "How old were they?" she heard herself ask.

"Kyo was five. Yuki was seven. And Yuki never forgave him for the death of their father. It didna matter that Kyo hadna been the one to pull the trigger. He'd been there, and he'd caused his mother's derangement. As far as Yuki was concerned, they were in league and Kyo was just a few shocks shy of going that route himself."

Tohru didn't know what to say. Didn't know what to think.

"So you see, Miss Honda. My godson is doubly cursed. One day, he'll cease to be the Kyo we know, and from that day forward he'll live in a locked apartment on my estate."

"Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Young Miss Kagura there fancies herself destined to be Kyo's devoted nursemaid. But I've seen the way he looks at you, and I've been reading of ye in his letters for weeks. I know how to hear what he doesna say, and I know," Kazuma stopped and his eyes searched Tohru's, "that Kyo doesna need a nurse any more than he needs pity masquerading as love. So I'm asking ye. Can ye be both what he wants now, and what he'll need later? If the answer is no, then I'll have to ask ye to have nothing more to do with him."

Raw, primal emotion swelled through Tohru's lungs. _Pity masquerading as love. _Her eyesight blurred, but the tears did not fall. She kept her gaze fixed on a point in the sidewalk. "Mr. Kazuma." she said, her voice shaking, "I respect you for what you did for him, for the strength you gave him when no one else would, but Kyo is a grown man now. He asked you to come here to investigate my father's death. Please do that, and with my gratitude." She drew a deep breath. "I have no money to pay you for your time, so instead I'll give you an explanation of my heart—something no one but Kyo has a right to demand of me otherwise. I have been shocked by Kyo, I have hurt for him, I have been proud of him, and I have had my breath stolen by him, but I have never, ever _pitied_ him."

Mr. Kazuma gazed at her for a few moments. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. "Thank you," he said quietly, and for the remainder of their walk, he did not speak to her again.

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**Regency Lexicon**

_sprigged muslin _– a popular fabric & pattern for younger women and girls (pattern of little plant sprigs all over)

_ladies' seminary _– a school for the education of proper young ladies

_trumpery _– nonsense; rubbish

_the City _– name for the district in the heart of London that by the Regency era had become the financial hub of Great Britain (and still is today). Like America's Wall Street.

_the Exchange _– the Stock Exchange building

_mincing _- walk with an affected fastidiousness, typically with short quick steps

_Viscount_ – a title that ranks below earl and above barons (typically Lord somebod) and baronets (Sir somebody). Sometimes, a hereditary title like Hiro's "Viscount Sherbourne" passed by marriage into the property of a family of higher rank. The family would then use it as the male heir's title. In this story, one day, Hiro would become Earl of Hundsford, and his eldest son would then become Viscount Sherbourne.

_Eton _– I think I defined this before, but in case you've forgotten, this is a prep school founded in 1440 as a free school for poor boys but became the chief school in all of England for the sons of the wealthy.


	22. The Earl of Hundsford's Ball

**Okay, we're almost done! I couldn't wait any longer to start posting. I have seven chapters ready to go up, and at crunchikoola11's suggestion, I've decided to post a new chapter every other day, so you have time to post your reactions and speculation. If you'd rather read straight through, we should be done before Thanksgiving, so you can just wait and read them all then.**

**You might want to skim back over Chapter 21 "Master Kazuma Speaks" for a quick refresher of where we left off. Thank you so much for your patience and interest in my story. I hope you enjoy the rest! :-)**

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya.

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Chapter 22 – The Earl of Hundsford's Ball

"Hm-hm-hmm, hm-hm-hmm."

Lady Akito rapped the earl's arm with her fan. "If you don't stop humming that inane melody," she hissed, "I will have you banished to the library for the entirety of the night."

A wolfish light came into Lord Shigure's eyes. "Hm-hm-hmm, hm-hm-hmm," he repeated, leaning close over his wife's slim shoulders. "You'll have to tie me up to keep me there," he murmured.

Tohru didn't know why the earl's tone should make her blush from her cheeks to her toes, but she turned away from the family line in the hall and began fussing with a flower arrangement. Guests would soon begin arriving, but she didn't feel it her place to stand in the receiving line alongside Lord Shigure, Lady Akito and Mr. Yuki. As soon as Saki and Arisa arrived, she would stay with them and out of the way—unless, of course, a gentlemen asked her to dance.

Her fading blush returned in force. She hoped Kyo would ask her to dance.

At the first sound of carriage wheels on cobblestones, Tohru raised the gauzy peach layers of her gown from her toes and retreated upstairs to the schoolroom. She would sneak down later, when there were more people and she could lose herself more easily.

When she entered the long, gabled room that served as Hiro and Kisa's domain now that they were in London, the young Viscount himself stumbled off a hobby horse and gave her a stout salute. "Miss Honda! Has the ball begun?"

Tohru sank to the carpet, her skirts puffing around her. She picked up a stuffed rabbit and tried fixing its jacket over the lumpy shoulders. "The guests are arriving, but I'm afraid I've had an attack of shyness...you and Kisa don't mind if I hide up here a moment?"

Lady Kisa looked up from her book. "Shyness? But haven't you been to many society events?"

"Yes, but I've never been the first one in the ballroom before. All that open space, and then people look only at you when they walk in..." The bunny's coat seemed to have a permanent crease in one sleeve. She set it aside. "I'll go down in a half hour or so. I won't be missed."

"I wish I could go," Hiro said. He glanced at the schoolroom door. "Why does it take such a monstrously long time to grow up?"

Tohru picked up a ball and tossed it across the room. Without thinking, the boy snagged it out of the air. "Go on, throw it back."

His throw was good, but the ball bounced off Tohru's thumb. Laughing at herself, she crawled to her feet and retrieved it from under a bookshelf.

"Well?" Hiro said. "Why does it take so long?"

Dust encased the ball. Tohru did her best to wipe it off while she considered Hiro's question. "Perhaps growing up takes so long because being an adult is hard and we have so much to learn in preparation for it." Her toss sailed over Hiro's head.

He scowled. "You throw like a girl. But if I was an adult, I would have been tall enough to catch that."

"If you were an adult, I would still have terrible aim, and you would be too old to mock me for it."

"Miss Honda?"

Both Tohru and Hiro turned in surprise. Kisa had laid her book on the settee. "Do you think we could peek from the railing? I...would like to see the ladies' gowns."

Happiness curled through Tohru's heart. Kisa was taking an interest in society! Lady Akito might frown on the children peeking from upstairs, but surely the mother's heart she kept so tightly under wraps would find comfort from anxieties about her daughter's future. She grinned. "Well, I suppose I _am _the closest thing you have to a governess at the moment. If you're under my supervision..."

"Hurrah!" Hiro threw his fist in the air. "I don't care if you're an impoverished girl, Miss Tohru, you are far too splendid to be a governess."

High praise indeed. Tohru stifled her own laughter with a finger over her lips. "Now Viscount Sherbourne, if we are to carry out our exercise, we must proceed in utter silence." She glanced at Kisa. "Are you ready?"

The girl nodded and slipped her hand into Tohru's. With Hiro in the lead, they crept out of the schoolroom.

At the end of the hallway, the long, mahogony banister curved over the hall and swept down to the lower floor. Tohru laid a hand on Hiro's shoulder. Carefully, they lowered themselves to a spot shadowed by the flight of stairs ascending into the servants' quarters. From their vantage point, the guests' backs were to them, and only Lady Akito was in a position to see them. If she even noticed.

Kisa was quite adept at communicating in silence. Between her face and her expressive hands, she pantomimed to Tohru her thoughts on each lady's gown or hairstyle. Hiro kept remarkably still, too caught up in the glittering spectacle to remember to act jaded.

For herself, Tohru watched the _ton _file into Sohma House and wondered how she'd ever passed as one of them. Couldn't they see the seagrasses of Chideok clinging to her hair? Couldn't they smell the dust and leather bindings from hours spent in her father's study and know she was no fine lady? Perhaps she would spend the whole evening with Hiro and Kisa—surely she would not be missed?

But then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She looked at the countess.

Lady Akito's gaze had drifted from her guests and risen up to the second floor landing to rest on Tohru's face. Her black eyes seemed to flash, her fury reined just beneath the surface of the polite smile she maintained for the public.

Tohru swallowed hard. Struggling to control the shaking in her limbs, she gathered the children by their shoulders and turned them away from the landing. "Your mother has spotted us. Quickly now, go on back to the schoolroom. If I can, I will visit you later."

Kisa's large, golden eyes widened. "Miss Tohru, I've gotten you in trouble."

"Not to worry." Tohru squeezed her hand. When she realized Hiro was watching her with the same stricken expression, she forced a sheepish smile. "My lady is merely annoyed. It will pass. Now go on."

When the girl seemed unable to move, her brother took her hand and turned her down the hallway. "Come on," Tohru heard him say. "Everyone loves Miss Tohru, even Mama. She will be fine."

If only that were true. Certainly, whoever tried to kill her in Hyde Park a few weeks ago had no love for her. Tohru drew a shaky breath. Lady Akito wouldn't kill her...just deliver a vastly unpleasant lecture and perhaps punish her with a few days confinement to the house.

Gathering her skirts and her courage, Tohru straightened her shoulders. She swept around the landing and descended the stairs, determined to look as if she'd just been fixing her hair in her room. At least the guests would not know she'd landed in trouble.

The countess's eyes followed her down the stairs, and the moment Tohru reached the foyer carpeting, Akito laid a hand on her husband's arm and said something into his ear. He merely nodded and turned to greet a trio of debutantes with their preening parents.

Tohru knew the countess would want a measure of privacy for what she was about to say, so she walked into the parlor and waited.

A moment later, Lady Akito slid the doors closed. She advanced on her ward. "What were you thinking, letting the children display such abominable manners, helping them _spy_ on my guests!" The plumage sweeping from her headdress shook with her voice. "I have never been so mortified in my life."

"I am sorry to have caused you anguish, my lady," Tohru said, her eyes dropping to the carpet. "It was never my intention. The children were so eager to see the guests, and I made sure we were in no one's line of sight but your—"

"Wait." Lady Akito waved her hand for silence. "The _children_ were eager? Only Hiro would care of such matters."

"Oh, no, my lady," Tohru said, saying a silent prayer that she would not be setting Kisa up for punishment. "In fact, it was Lady Kisa who first asked if we could look. She wanted to see the ladies' gowns."

The countess's eyes widened ever so slightly. She stared at Tohru for a long moment. "Kisa wanted to see ballgowns," she echoed in a voice much quieter than her usual strident tones. "Did you put the notion into her head?"

"I don't believe so. Young Master Hiro and I were just discussing all there is to learn about growing up when Kisa suddenly put her book aside and asked me if we could peek from the railing. I thought it might be good to encourage her interest."

Lady Akito stood still for a moment, then she drew herself up straight. "Quite right. Go upstairs and tell them they are forgiven this one time, but if I catch them peeping like urchins again, there will be consequences. Then you are to return down here immediately—I can't have my ward hiding in the schoolroom during a ball thrown in her honor."

"In my—" Tohru's mouth fell open.

"Yes, well," the countess tugged on the tops of her long satin gloves. "I must have forgotten to mention it. Some of Shigure's relations insisted I throw you a ball. It would seem you are quite popular in this family. I couldn't get that tiresome Ayame off my back any other way."

"Sir Ayame asked...?"

"And Shintaro's boy, Hatsuharu. It's a good thing he's so clearly taken with Miss Isuzu or I would have to lay down some strict orders about not encouraging him. He is not an appropriate match for you."

Lady Akito may have 'forgotten,' but why had no one else told her this ball was to be in her honor? The very thought sent her heartbeat racing. She didn't want to be the center of attention, didn't deserve such an honor. It was kind of Sir Ayame and Mr. Hatsuharu to ask for this, but it wasn't her, not at all.

One corner of the countess's mouth quirked. "Shigure was right. You don't like the attention, do you?"

"Oh, no!" Heat flashed through Tohru's face. "My lady, I—I mean, I couldn't possibly be so ungrateful—"

"Don't lie, Miss Honda. You lack the skill." Lady Akito turned to check her plumes in the mirror. "Endure an hour, and then you may run off to see Hiro and Kisa tucked into bed." Her eyes fixed on Tohru from the reflection. "I expect you to return after that."

Some fifteen minutes later, when Tohru stepped into the Sohma's ballroom, she tried to tell herself that all eyes did not turn to her. It was only her overly active imagination that turned the dowagers into whispering gossips and the men into mocking assessors of worth. She tried to calm her nerves by recalling the way Hiro's eyes had widened when she told him and his sister that his mother would not punish them. "Why, you've tamed her, too!" he'd said, exchanging a glance with his sister. "Miss Tohru is like magic."

No, she wasn't like magic, but it was kind of him to say so. Across the dance floor, she spotted Saki and Arisa, and it was as if the room finally stopped spinning. She hurried to join them.

To her immense relief, the earl and countess made no embarrassing presentations or speeches. Saki said the invitations had stated the ball would be in her honor, but apparently her hosts didn't believe it was necessary to belabor the point.

So Tohru was free to dance with the gentlemen who asked for her hand, and gradually she regained her equilibrium. Of Kyo, she saw no sign, but then she could hardly expect him to put himself out to attend every ball when he hated them so. A small voice inside her wished he could have made an exception for _her _ball, but she shoved that voice aside. She had no claim on him.

And at least the company was good. Mr. Hatsuharu had her laughing so hard during the turns of their dance, Tohru feared she might be making a spectacle of herself. He made such naughty comments about the other guests—and in that casual drawl he did so well—that she just couldn't meet his mischievous eyes without breaking into a grin.

Then the long opening notes of a waltz swept through the room, and she found herself face to face with Sir John Graydon. He gave her a melting smile, his blue eyes glittering in the candlelight. "May I have this dance, Miss Havilland?"

Tohru's breath felt tight in her throat. She shouldn't feel so disappointed. Kyo was not here. She'd already danced with Mr. Hatsuharu, and at least Graydon was better than Mr. Fitzhugh and his sweaty palms. Besides, Lady Akito favored Sir John's suit.

She held out her hand, and the man she was all but engaged to marry swept her into the dance. His shoulder felt firm beneath her hand, and his hand was sure at her waist. Tohru smiled and twirled with the music. Sir John was a flawless dancer, leading her through the dance with precision and even a little artistry, but try as Tohru might, she could still feel the floor beneath her slippers.

The weightless magic she'd felt in Kyo's arms had not been due to the waltz itself. It was Kyo, and her love for him that gave her flight.

But _why _did she love him? They'd been together almost constantly those first two weeks at Hundsford, but after that, she'd seen him only a handful of times. He was rude, disheveled, and simply didn't know how to behave around a lady. He wasn't even the most beautiful man she knew (Mr. Yuki) nor the most distinguished (Sir John).

Could love be bottled with reasons? Maybe, maybe not. All Tohru knew was, no man but Kyo made her feel like an equal, like the words she spoke had some worth in the world. No man but Kyo made her feel special.

The clock in the hall chimed the hour, so the moment the waltz was over, Tohru curtsied to Sir John and retreated from the ballroom. Lady Akito had said she could tuck the children in if she stayed at the ball for the first hour, and Tohru meant to take her at her word.

No light filtered from beneath Hiro's bedroom door. Tohru eased it open. In the glow of embers from the fireplace, she saw the boy's sleeping face. He sprawled across the pillows, covers kicked to one side, and Tohru started to leave him be.

But just as she started to back through the doorway, she heard him murmur something and saw him curl himself into a ball. He was cold.

Carefully, Tohru crept to his side. She tugged the covers up over his body, not so high that he might get hot and fling them aside again, but enough to take the edge off the room's chill. Then, before Hiro could wake and be mortified—no doubt he'd protest her treating him like a baby—she slipped from the room.

A flicker under Kisa's door told her the girl was still awake. Reading, most likely. Tohru gave a little knock.

"Come in," Kisa said. She lay propped against her pillows, an elegantly bound volume splayed across her knees. Her candle burned low.

"That isn't good for your eyes, you know," Tohru said, waving her hand at the book before sinking to sit on the bed at Kisa's side. "A single candle makes them work too hard."

"But it's such a marvelous story, about tiny people and talking horses...I didn't think about putting it down."

Tohru nudged the volume up from the girl's knees and peeked at the binding. _Gulliver's Travels_. "Oh that was one of my father's favorites. He said it was a very naughty book, but he never had a problem letting me read it."

"Naughty?" Kisa's head tilted to one side. "The descriptions are funny, to be sure, but what makes it naughty?"

"Papa said the author is actually making fun of real people, like the Prime Minister and other public figures of his day—but of course you and I don't recognize them, so it just seems like a fantastical story."

Kisa yawned, and Tohru could only smile. "I think I'm supposed to insist you go to bed now," she said.

"It's just as well, I'm ready." The girl laid her book onto the nightstand and slid down into her pillows.

After dragging the coverlet up over Kisa's shoulders, Tohru gave it a pat for good measure. "There now. Sleep tight." Perhaps that wasn't how one tucked in the daughter of an earl, but it was how Tohru's own mother had seen her to bed. Kisa didn't seem to mind.

Tohru descended the stairs and was just passing back through the hall when a heavy tread and a familiar voice sounded from the entry to the morning room.

"Tohru," he said.

She turned with an answering leap of her heart. Kyo leaned to one side of the doorway, his arms folded tightly over his chest. He was not dressed for a ball. His cravat hung in folds above the half-open collar of his shirt. What must have been his coat lay discarded on the back of a chair in the morning room behind him, while his waistcoat was a plain buff affair. His unruly hair rioted over his head, and not in an artful way. He hadn't even shaved.

All this Tohru took in with only a cursory glance. She didn't care how he looked—he was _here_. She smoothed a lock of hair behind her ear and rushed forward. "Kyo—er, Mr. Kyo," she amended, glancing quickly for any guests who might have wandered into in the hall. Her smile burst over her face. "I'm so happy to see you here."

He didn't relax his pose, but his frown faded slightly. "Are you?"

Tohru stopped mid-step, her stomach tightening. "Why yes, of course I am. And look." Eagerly, she pulled her dance card from where it hung from her wrist and held it out for him to see, "I saved you a dance. A waltz."

A shade seemed to drop back over his eyes. "I didn't come here to dance," he muttered.

She couldn't help herself. She stepped closer, until a mere three feet separated them. At that distance, it was impossible for Kyo to mask that he couldn't—or wouldn't—meet her gaze. "Then what did you come here to do?" she asked quietly.

His folded arms seemed to tighten over his chest. "To say goodbye."


	23. Pain and Distraction

**Yes, sorry about leaving you with that cliffhanger...at least you don't have to wait too long for the next chapter :-)**

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya.

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_Chapter 23 – Pain and Distraction _

Tohru's mind blanked. Goodbye? She stared up at him, willing him to meet her gaze, to laugh and say he was only teasing. Surely, he didn't truly mean _goodbye_. As clearly as she could, she spoke the only thing she could think to say. "Why?"

Shifting his weight, Kyo leaned back against the morning room door. "I thought I'd save you the trouble of doing it first. Now that you know you've been keeping company with a madman."

"Kyo!" she gasped. "You are _not_ a madman."

"Not yet." Then the eyes she longed to see squared on hers, and she couldn't help it—she shrank from the ire she saw there. "The way I see it," he said, "there's no sense delaying the inevitable, not after Master told you everything."

Tohru's tongue seemed to have dried in her mouth. She tried to swallow. "You're furious with him."

"You're damned right I am." He spun into the morning room, stalking across the carpet like the caged lion Tohru had seen once in a London menagerie. Kyo whirled and seized the back of a chair. The power of his grip turned his knuckles white. "I invited him down here to uncover the truth about your father," he hissed, "not to dump my murderous and lunatic bloodlines in your lap."

Now her own temper bubbled to the surface. She stepped into the morning room and closed the door behind her. She was not afraid of Kyo, nor did she care that if anyone discovered her in here with him, her reputation would be ruined. The anger toward his foster father—not to mention his own venomous self-loathing—had to stop. Now. She drew a deep breath. "There are many superficial people in the world, and Mr. Kazuma wanted to protect you in case I was one of them. He told me about your mother because he _loves _you."

A furrow appeared between his eyebrows. Kyo's jaw relaxed, but his eyes...she wanted to cry for the pain she saw there. "You aren't superficial, no. God knows why you enjoy my company, but I'm no fool," he said, his voice harsh, twisted by bitterness. "The moment I start drooling and trying to stab you, I daresay you'll find someone else to give your smiles."

Tohru gaped at him. Tears sprang to her eyes, unchecked by any further desire to spare him female hysterics. "_Find _someone else? Hasn't it been obvious? I lov—"

"No!" He shoved away from the chair and clapped his hand over her mouth. "I don't want to hear who."

The hot, callused skin of his palm sent awareness coursing through Tohru's body. Her heart thudded in her ears and she realized she was holding her breath. The moment she exhaled, Kyo jerked his hand away as if he'd been burned.

He ran that same hand over his eyes and into his hair. "I don't need to hear who," he said, almost to himself. With a purposeful step toward the door, he reached for the handle, then stopped.

A maelstrom of emotion kept Tohru rooted to the floor. She could hear his ragged breathing. Why didn't he speak? Why didn't he move instead of standing there, his shoulder a bare inch from her own. Even with the heat she felt emanating across the space, she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"Tohru," he said gently, more gently than she'd ever heard him speak. His voice was hoarse. "Be careful."

The door opened behind her, and he was gone.

It had taken every ounce of her strength to stand there in silence. To keep quiet when her foolish heart wanted to leap from her chest and into Kyo's arms. At least her brain still knew enough to keep her from insisting she loved _him_. He'd tossed aside everything she'd said that evening—who was she to think a declaration of her love would be treated any differently? Perhaps Kyo already knew she loved him, perhaps not, but if he couldn't trust her to see him as something other than a madman-in-waiting, she couldn't afford to trust him with her heart. It was as simple as that.

Except that it wasn't. Bonelessly, Tohru sagged to the floor, silent tears streaming down her face. How could he do that? How could he stand there and speak that way about the man who'd raised him, hurling insults at Mr. Kazuma and her alike? If Kyo truly felt the way she did, telling her goodbye would be like banishing himself from the brightest star in his sky. Tohru choked back a sob. She had her answer right there. His feelings for her—if he'd ever had them—were fleeting. Something altogether different from her own.

She was a fool to love as deeply as she did.

How much time passed beyond the curtain of her tears, she hardly knew. The tall clock in the corner began chiming midnight. She dashed the back of her hand across her eyes, and forced herself to look up at the clock. Only an hour had passed since she left to tuck in the children. How long ago that seemed. At this hour the ball was still going strong, so she couldn't retreat to her room to cry in private. Lady Akito would come looking for her soon. They may not be making a fuss over her, but she _was_ the guest of honor. It was unseemly for her to stay absent so long.

A sudden resolve stole through Tohru's veins. She would return to the ball. She would dance and smile so every man she met would think she was available. Because she was, was she not? No man had staked a claim to her hand. And the less she thought about her heart, the better.

In the candlelight, she rose from the floor and crossed to check her face in the oval mirror above the mantle. Her eyes looked large—her cheeks puffy. She would have to wait a few moments before she dared return. Perhaps she would wash her face first.

When she stepped into the blaze of chandeliers in the ballroom a few moments later, Tohru thought she'd repaired her appearance admirably. It still did not prevent Sir John from coming straight to her side. "Miss Havilland, you seem distressed," he said, attentive as ever. "Is there anything I can do?"

She shook her head. "I don't believe so, thank you."

"What about some refreshment? I hear the ratafia is _almost _tolerable."

Surprised into laughter, Tohru made the effort to raise her eyes to his. "Then I suppose I'm obligated to try it."

"Quite so," he said, flashing a brilliant smile. "I will return in a moment."

The ratafia was indeed better than the usual fare, but Tohru took care to sip and not drink outright. Her control over her emotions was so tremulous that even this little bit of alcohol could have disastrous consequences. She might accept Sir John's company, but she would never willingly confide in him.

Soon, Mr. Fitzhugh demanded her hand for a dance, and Tohru fell back into the rhythms of society. Mr. Yuki took her out for a minuet, a refined dance that suited him so well it could have been made for him. His smile during the dance warmed the edges of her soul, but went no deeper. She knew better than to expect a few hours' dancing to heal her wounds.

Then came the evening's last waltz, the dance she had saved for Kyo. She kept her chin up and her dance card shut tightly between her thumb and forefinger. She would not give her emotions free reign.

"May I have this dance?"

Tohru turned to find a man with long, white hair bowing low, his hand outstretched. The moment she recognized the lacy, scented handkerchief spilling from his fingers, her vision cleared. "Sir Ayame!"

"Haru showed me his waltz technique, and I'm eager to try my hand at it. If you would but indulge me?"

He was so adorably last century that Tohru took his hand without a second thought.

Sir Ayame shot upright, beaming. "You shan't regret it, my lady."

He positioned his hand over her waist and belly so that he was almost pushing her away from him. Tohru recognized the position from the way Kyo had held her during their waltz. Her throat tightened. She mustn't let her thoughts go that direction.

They whirled into the dance. Sir Ayame moved with a sort of stiff, bouncing energy Tohru found exhausting, even though he sometimes forgot what to do. The waltz belonged more to her generation, just like the minuet had been the great dance of his day, so she didn't mind helping him lead every now and then. While they danced, he babbled on about a renovation at his house and the new wardrobe he'd ordered from the ancient French tailor who still made the coats he preferred. "Coats with proper flair to them," he said.

Certainly, the coat he'd chosen to wear this evening gave new meaning to the word flair. Embroidered peacock tails curled along the sleeves and over the back of the turquoise garment. His Chinese silk waistcoat matched the brilliant blue in the tails, and diamonds winked from the tops of his buttons. He didn't seem to notice or care that beside him, Tohru looked very much like a country mouse.

Rather like herself, actually.

As they bobbed to the edge of the company, Sir Ayame grew so excited describing a pair of golden clocked stockings that he trod on Tohru's foot. She winced and in the moment stumbled forward. Ayame caught her in his arms.

Smoke plumed around her.

And then suddenly, she was dancing with Mr. Yuki. He kicked something under the long crimson drapes and braced his hand against her stomach in a way that was far more standoffish than anything Kyo or Sir Ayame had done.

Miraculously, no one seemed to have noticed the smoke, or her change in partners. Mr. Yuki's jaw was clenched and he seemed to be herding her through the dance to one of the doors leading out to the gallery. Tohru had just wrapped her head around what had happened when she realized something had wrapped itself around her leg—quite literally.

She gasped.

Mr. Yuki noticed her reaction, and if anything, his eyes went even wider a second before they narrowed to murderous slits. He dragged her outside.

Even before her eyes fully adjusted to the lantern light, Tohru realized they were not alone. A couple broke apart down near the railing edge. As she watched, the girl swept her hand over her face and fled back into the ballroom, leaving her lover to shove his hands in the pockets of his coat and stalk toward her and Mr. Yuki.

Mr. Hatsuharu looked ready to strangle his cousin.

But Yuki either didn't notice or didn't care. He stood back from Tohru and clenched his fists at his sides, glaring at the hem of her gown. "Get. Out," he growled, his voice so full of wrath that Tohru took an involuntary step backward.

"No," he grabbed her wrist, "don't move. You might trample him, and I want him alive when I_ peel his skin off his flesh and cook him_."

The black expression on Hatsuharu's face vanished. "Hold it—is Ayame hiding under Miss Havilland's skirts?"

Her mouth fell open. Of course. Sir Ayame was the snake, which meant the coiled thing wrapped around her leg was— "Oh goodness..." Dizziness swamped her senses.

Hatsuharu grabbed her by the arm. "Easy there, I've got you."

If anything, Mr. Yuki's scowl hardened. "That's it you filthy little pervert. If you don't come out now, I'm going to fetch your new peacock coat and burn it."

The snake slid from her leg and poked its head out from under her skirt.

Yuki dove. He snatched the snake up by the head. Holding it up like a sinuous rope, he said, "You've gone too far this time, Uncle."

"Oh, I meant no harm, and it's _dreadfully _cold out here. Yuki, dear, do you think you could fetch my clothes without burning them? Please?"

That was Sir Ayame's voice. She stared at the snake, grateful for Mr. Hatsuharu's supportive grip. Sir Ayame really had turned into a snake—a lovely, opalescent snake. She shivered anyway. A pretty snake was still a snake, and it had been wrapped around her leg. Tohru may have witnessed Kyo's transformation once, but she wasn't at all _used _to the idea. Could one ever get used to such a thing?

"This is all terribly amusing," Mr. Hatsuharu drawled, "but galleries at crowded balls are not the place to air our dirty laundry. Yuki, get him to a private location. I will get his clothes and fetch one of Miss Havilland's friends to accompany her back into the ballroom. She needs to go straight to bed to recover from the excitement."

Mr. Yuki gave Hatsuharu a measuring look, then sighed. He flung his hand in the direction of the door, careless of the way Ayame's body flopped below his hand. "Go on then."

While Mr. Hatsuharu went in search of Saki or Arisa, Tohru leaned against the house and watched the snake with wary eyes. "Does he...ever bite?" she asked, more to control her nascent hysteria than anything.

"Good heavens, Miss Havilland," the snake said, his tongue flickering in the lamplight. "Do you have any idea how dirty people can be? I could catch any number of diseas—" he made a choking noise.

"I'm sorry, I don't think she was asking you," Mr. Yuki said, without a hint of remorse. "Here comes Miss Uotani. Time we vanished. Goodnight." He jogged down the gallery steps and vanished into the garden.

Moments later, Arisa half-dragged her through the crowds, not even giving Sir John and Mr. Fitzhugh enough time to say if they'd be calling on Tohru the next day. She clung to Arisa's hand, grateful for the support when she felt so weary from limb to limb. She was too fatigued to worry that others had seen Sir Ayame's transformation. Too exhausted to ask Arisa about her relationship with Mr. Yuki—even so drained that she didn't particularly care when Arisa shucked her gown off and pushed her into bed.

Tohru was too tired to do anything but sleep.

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**Regency Lexicon**

_morning room _– smaller, less formal sitting room with good sunlight in the morning

_menagerie_ – a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded more modern zoos. It came to be used primarily in reference to aristocratic or royal animal collections.

_ratafia_ – a sweet, after-dinner cordial (barely alcoholic) favored by ladies in Regency and Victorian England

_clocked stockings _– stockings with designs embroidered on them.


	24. Tohru's Resolution

**Time for a new chapter! FadingNoctis-hang in there, angst now, Kyoru later, I promise ;-) Silverarrow, sorry that scene with Tohru and Kyo seemed to skip a little...maybe you could PM me and let me know where those parts were? **

**Also thanks to the anonymous commenter who let me know about crunchie11 writing a story like mine-I had no idea and now I have something new to read :-). There may be a connection, there may not, but if there **_**is**_** any connection, I find that very flattering! Especially since crunchie posts reviews on my story, too. **

**We're all just playing with Natsuki Tayaka's characters anyway, so the more the merrier :-) And hey, crunchie is actually **_**from**_** Scotland, while I'm just an American playing pretend. So if you haven't already, go check out her story "In Circumstance."**

**Crazy with Happiness - I'm glad you enjoyed the Ayame bit :-) I hoped some people would find that funny.**

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Chapter 24 – Tohru's Resolution

_Her name was Xie Yu._

_She was engaged to marry Sir John, and he couldn't pronounce her name. None of these English could speak the musical slide in the syllables, the beautiful tune of her name..._

_...at least Kyo tried. She knelt beside him in the bushes beside the vicarage, except when she looked, he wasn't really there. Only his voice kept her company. She watched her father argue. Saw the glint as the knife slid from his hiding place. Her fiance held the knife. Her fiance, Sir John, was about to stab her father._

_She sucked in to scream, but no sound came out. Kyo's voice filled her ears. "Be careful," he rasped. "Be careful..."_

Almost before Tohru realized she was dreaming, she turned her face into the pillow. The dream was awful, bewildering, frightening, and nowhere near as daunting as her own reality. Sir John had not murdered her father—the gaunt-faced man and his accomplice had—she was just afraid to face a future with him. She felt so foolish, but if she was going to cast Sir John as a villain in her dreams, maybe she should just admit he made her uneasy and marry Mr. Fitzhugh. With regular bathing, he wouldn't be bad at all, and as his wife, she would be in a position to promote new habits.

As for Kyo's warning...his last words to her had indeed been "Be careful," but that had been a general sort of warning. He couldn't possibly have meant anything specific. After all, Kazuma Sohma was on the case, and she refused to believe Kyo would desert her if he thought she was still in danger.

_Xie Yu_. Tohru rolled onto her back and stared at the canopy over her head. No, she wasn't remembering wrong. There had definitely been a part in the dream where she'd thought her name was Xie Yu. But why? And why did she picture the syllables as Chinese characters? She only knew they were characters because she'd seen those exotic symbols in the corners of paintings in her father's travel books—she couldn't actually read them.

A chambermaid swept into the room and went to work rebuilding the fire in the grate. With daylight streaming through the open curtains and the maid's quiet presence, Tohru's dream faded from her mind. It had been only a dream, after all. Nothing portentous, just a jumbled collection of her anxieties merging into each other. Best not to dwell on it.

Once she was freshly dressed and coiffed, Tohru went down for breakfast. She knew she was up long before the earl and countess would rise, but no doubt Kisa and Hiro would welcome a visitor.

She spent much of the morning in the schoolroom, fielding Hiro's questions about the Roman Empire and encouraging Kisa's interest in the lesser-known Roman poets. Last night's conversation with Kyo hung on her heart, but with a kind of grim resolve, Tohru pushed those thoughts deep to the back of her mind. Having the children to teach was a blessed distraction.

But of course it couldn't last. It was almost noon when an upstairs maid—Tohru wasn't sure of her exact title—peeked through the door. "Begging your pardon, miss," the girl said, "her ladyship says you're to come to the drawing room."

Tohru flashed a look of apology to her young friends and set her reference volume on Roman emperors down before Hiro. "The next section is on Caligula, if you want to read ahead. I'll return when I can."

Skirts rustling, she hurried down the stairs and crossed the length of the foyer to peer inside the drawing room. The countess rose from her perch on a striped crimson velvet chaise, and held out her hand. "Ah, here is my ward. Tohru, dear, come have a seat."

The hairs at the back of Tohru's neck prickled. The countess's tone, her words, her manner...it could only mean they weren't alone. Sure enough, when she stepped all the way into the room, she discovered Sir John Graydon standing by the fireplace. He kept his hands clasped behind his back, but his eyes roved over her with a proprietary glitter she could not welcome.

He gave her a brief bow. "Miss Havilland."

She curtsied. "Sir John."

"Well," Lady Akito said with a brisk clap of her hands. "Perhaps I should check on the children. We are between governesses at the moment, and I would hate to let their studies lapse." With a glance at the watch she wore at her waist, she hustled out of the room. The door half-closed behind her.

Tohru swallowed. This was it then.

"Miss Havilland," Sir John began, moving a bit closer from his position across the room. "I'm sure you have noticed the marked increase in my attentions since we first met at Lady Yarborough's ball a few months ago. I have not bothered to disguise my interest—I had no reason to, and I detest pretense of any kind. If you would consent to be my wife, you would make me the happiest of men."

Tohru had no experience with marriage proposals, but his lukewarm speech was still a disappointment. She had not expected to be swept off her feet, but when a gentleman chose to marry a woman without a dowry, wasn't he at least supposed to have strong feelings for her? Otherwise, what was his incentive?

He must have noticed her hesitation, because something flashed in his eyes—was it anxiety that she would say no?—and he moved closer. "You cannot doubt my sincerity. You are the only woman I've ever wanted for a wife."

That was a trifle better. "I am very flattered, sir," she said, just to avoid a prolonged silence. But could she bring herself to say yes? If she didn't agree to marry him, would the earl and countess agree to house her any longer?

Suddenly, leaving this house to seek employment as a governess seemed far preferable to marrying a man who intimidated her the way Sir John did. She knew this decision would likely cast her beyond the reach of marriage, but feeling as strongly as she did, how could she deny the will of her heart? "Your offer and your kindness are most appreciated," she said quietly, "but I do not think we should suit. I hope you will forgive me."

His jaw muscle tightened and his blue eyes seemed to darken, but the look soon passed. He clasped his hands behind his back. "Graceful even when delivering a rejection." A wistful smile crossed his lips. "I should have known."

Remorse stole through Tohru. She hated to hurt anyone, and when he looked like that, spoke like that, she almost believed he really had feelings for her—feelings she'd wounded. But no one should marry out of pity, so she merely nodded and whispered, "thank you."

"Well." Sir John exhaled loudly. He gathered up his hat and walking stick. "I will be on my way then. I wish you good-day, Miss Havilland."

She sketched a slow curtsy and listened until she heard Bell close the front door behind him. With the click of the latch, she dropped to the settee, feeling drained of every feeling but relief. It didn't last.

"Tohru," Lady Akito appeared in the door to the morning room. "Has Sir John left so soon?"

Her stomach plunged, but she rose to her feet. Courtesy demanded it. "Yes, my lady."

The countess took a measured step forward. "And did he say anything of interest?"

If only Tohru could bring herself to do something other than stare at the floor. "He proposed marriage, my lady."

"And you refused."

Her head shot up. Lady Akito's eyes were stony, and the lines at either side of her lips seemed to have been carved in granite. If anything, the hard cast of her features gave Tohru strength. "Yes," she said, her voice gentle but clear, "though it pains me to do anything to disappoint you and the earl. Sir John intimidates me, my lady, and there is a remoteness to him that I fear would keep me from ever knowing him, ever enjoying the kind of partnership you have with Lord Shigure."

At that, Akito's nostrils flared, but the cold look left her eyes. She considered Tohru. "We did not take you in to support you indefinitely."

"Indeed, the support I never asked for, never dreamed to have, but that I have appreciated more than you can know. If you wish, I would be happy to just continue as your dear childrens' governess...and," she paused to breathe, "and if not, I will ask only for references so I can find another household to serve."

Astonishment slipped over the countess's features. "You would turn from the wealth and security of being Lady Graydon to raise other people's children as long as they need you, and then to endure the uncertainty of finding another position and serving there until those children, too, are grown? Think of your poverty in old age, Tohru, think of the unscrupulous masters you might serve until then."

Tohru did not miss the way the countess skirted right past her offer to teach Kisa and Hiro. Ah, well, it had been worth a try. "It is not the worldly-wise choice to make, I know, but it is a worthy profession, and I am probably more suited to serve as a governess than to hold court as Lady Graydon. I...I will endeavor to pay you back for the expenses you have incur—"

"You will do no such thing. I would be a terrible guardian if I allowed you to make such a foolish choice. I believe it would be best if you took a few hours alone, in your room, if you please. Consider this gravely, and if you find you still cannot marry Sir John, then you must determine which of your remaining suitors to accept—Mr. Fitzhugh has already asked the earl for permission to pay you his respects so at least you are not wholly _without_ options. A governess." Lady Akito sniffed and raked her gaze over Tohru's frame. "It won't do. Go on now."

Anger had stretched Tohru's nerves as taut as bowstrings. She fused her lips together and stalked out of the room. It was unpardonably rude to exit without responding, but Tohru could not bring herself to care. Not now—one day after Kyo abandoned her and fifteen minutes after declaring her independence from a future as Sir John's shadow. She swept around the curling banister and was about to climb the stairs when Bell cleared his throat behind her.

"A message for you, miss." The butler held out a silver tray with an ivory notecard lying folded on the filigree swirls. She picked up the thick, silky cardstock, thanked the butler and fled to her room.


	25. On the Road Again

**Thanks to everyone for the lovely reviews :-) Crunchie, that's so freakin' cool that I inspired you! Lilac Rose, that's really frustrating about . I hope they quit deleting your subscription (but at least the service is still free, right?) Silverarrow, I'm glad to know I fixed my flow problems (hope I don't drop the ball again here). And FadingNoctis, yeah I've been putting poor Tohru through the ringer, but she can take it, and Kyo is coming! I did indeed promise more Kyo, but it's the chapter after this one. Sorry!**

**Meanwhile, I know you're all curious about that note, so have at it :-)**

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_Chapter 25 – On the Road Again_

The moment the door closed behind her, Tohru sank onto a chair and scrabbled at the notecard's seal with trembling fingers. _It won't be from Kyo_, she told herself, but her heart just wouldn't believe her head.

It should have. The moment she had the card open, she saw Arisa Uotani's name signed with bold curling script. She gave her disappointed heart a quick scold, and resolutely, she began to read.

_Dear Miss Havilland,_

_I would not write but for a most urgent Matter of the Heart. _

_My cousin Saki is no help to me, and English ways are_

_Incomprehensible. You alone know the answers I need. _

_Might you come to my Uncle's house for a Visit?_

_Yrs,_

_Arisa Uotani _

Tohru read the note again. Arisa needed her advice? Why wasn't it something she could discuss with Saki?

Slowly, understanding dawned. Arisa had feelings for Mr. Yuki Sohma—and as a friend to Mr. Yuki, Tohru might know things about his character that Saki did not. She sat up straight in her chair and read the note one more time. Were all Americans so bold when expressing their emotions?

But Tohru could not ignore a friend's request. She rang for her maid. Her anger with the countess was still too sharp for her to ask Lady Akito for the use of the Hundsfords' carriage. When her maid arrived, Tohru asked her to have a footman hire a hack.

If Tohru had been feeling like herself, she might have asked her maid to go with her, but all the rules and expectations of polite society seemed to weigh like stones in her chest. When the girl returned with the message that a hack was ready and waiting outside, Tohru simply tucked Arisa's note into her reticule and hurried downstairs.

Her errand couldn't have been better timed. The moment she stepped out the front doors, the stones fell from her lungs. This was exactly what she needed. An afternoon as her own woman, away from the countess's gaze and her maid's shadowy presence.

She climbed into the hack and instructed the driver to take her to the Viscount Hanajima's townhouse in Portman Square. They rumbled forward. Tohru settled back in the seat, noting with pleasure that the hack was rather nice for a hired carriage, clean with well-oiled straps and fresh upholstery. She felt independent...like someone who could apply for a position as governess to a household, someone who could make her own way in the world.

The countess's words came back to her. _You would raise other people's children as long as they need you...endure the uncertainty of finding another position...think of your poverty in old age, Tohru, think of the unscrupulous masters you might serve until then._

She sighed. It was not perfect, but she could do it. She could endure the life of a governess far better than marriage to a man she didn't love, a lord and master she couldn't respect.

The repetitive jostling of the well-sprung carriage made Tohru drowsy. She knew the townhouse couldn't be much farther, but it was as if her head leaned back of its own volition. Her eyes stayed half-open, but she let her breathing shift into a restful rhythm. She didn't want to be caught napping when the driver pulled up at Hanajima House.

Tohru woke with a start. She'd fallen asleep, but they were still driving. It must have been only for a second or two. She peeked through one of the curtains.

Grim-looking buildings loomed close to the street, crowding the daylight overhead. Tohru caught her breath. This wasn't the way to Portman Square. This wasn't any street she recognized.

She raised the shade and slid open the window to call to the hackney driver. "I need to go to Portman Square, to Hanajima House. Where are we?"

To her gratification, the driver pulled the hackney from the slough of traffic. She collected her skirts away from her feet, ready to disembark and hire a different hack if the driver didn't know his business, but the moment the carriage stopped, the door swung open.

Sir John Graydon hopped inside and latched the door behind them.

Tohru pressed back against the wall, her hands flattened against the seat cushion. "Sir—Sir John! What are you doing in my hackney?"

"My hackney." Shadows hid his eyes. "Actually, it's my carriage and my driver, though I must apologize, for neither is the best I own."

The carriage lurched forward. The springing motion would have flung Tohru into the man's lap but she held herself too tightly to the opposite seat to move. She felt some of the air returning to her lungs. "Then explain to me how my request for a hackney landed me in your carriage. I trust this is not an everyday occurrence?" she added with what she hoped was a fair imitation of Lady Akito at her most chilling.

But Sir John just chuckled. "No, my little sparrow. It's not every day I elope with my bride."

"Elope!" Inexplicable fear tightened Tohru's throat, but she forced herself to think rationally. There had been a mistake, of course. Sir John might be cold, but he was not a criminal. "I did not agree to an elopement, sir. I didn't even agree to marry you. I thought I made myself clear."

"Quite." His teeth flashed his smile. "Which is why we're on our way to Gretna Green instead of enjoying the Earl of Hundsford's felicitations."

Tohru kept her chin high in spite of her plunging heart. "Even in Scotland, you need the bride's consent to wed."

"You'll consent—once you're faced with the alternative."

"Which is?"

"Ruination. One night traveling with me and you'll be thoroughly compromised."

She lunged for the door, but Sir John caught her hand by the wrist.

"Don't be stupid," he said evenly. "You would break a limb, if not your neck, and would be no closer to escaping me than you are now, hale and whole. We are well out of the city by now."

She pulled her wrist free and massaged it in her lap. "Sir, I have an urgent appointment with a friend," she said coldly. "If I fail to arrive, she will worry, and then you will have the Watch after you." It wasn't completely true-Arisa didn't know for certain if she was coming-but it was worth a try.

"If you are referring to Miss Uotani, you'll be relieved to learn that note was from me. So, she won't worry."

Utter shock rooted Tohru to her seat. He'd _forged a note_ to lure her out of the house? Part of her wanted to lapse into stony silence, but she was so confused by her suitor's daring that she had to have answers. "You can have any woman you wish for a bride. Why go to these lengths, break the law, to have me? I'm no one special."

He tilted his head back against the cushions. In the dim light his eyes seemed to glitter. "Let's call it love and leave it at that, hmm?"

This wasn't love. At the very least it was infatuation, but Tohru couldn't see this big, powerfully built man caring enough for one woman that he would cast honor to the wind. He had to have some other reason, "I ought to scream," she said.

"Yes, but then you should have done so when we were still in London." He flipped up the blind. "No one will hear you in these pasture lands."

In the small rectangle of light, Tohru saw he spoke the truth. How stupid of her to squander her one chance at calling for help! Perhaps if she bided her time, she could draw help to her side when they stopped to change horses.

With that thought to console her, she squared herself against the carriage wall and settled in to wait. Sir John pulled the blinds closed. Tohru's heart beat a scattershot rhythm in her chest. She couldn't help it. She'd never been alone in a carriage with a man who wasn't her father, and she was wholly at Sir John's mercy. She didn't think he would really hurt her, but then she hadn't thought he would kidnap her either.

She had to do something about her fear. Darkness blanketed his features, leaving room for her imagination to come to her rescue. How would she feel if the man in this carriage was Kyo?

Her chest tightened painfully. She hadn't dared let herself think of Kyo, but with her fear running rampant, just the thought of him gave her a measure of peace. If he was in this carriage right now, it would be because they'd just been married and were on their way to a grand honeymoon. Tears tightened her throat. It wouldn't happen, but it was a lovely thought all the same.

Around dusk, the carriage turned off the road to lurch over ruts in a drive. They were nearing a posting house. Tohru sucked in a breath and screamed for help.

Like a shot, Sir John leaped across the space and clamped his hand over her mouth. "Stop that," he ordered. "Do you mean to deafen me? There's no one else to hear you—just me and my very well paid, very loyal men—so don't make me gag you."

She held perfectly still, breathing evenly through her nose. His hand smelled like sweat. Slowly, he moved it away from her mouth. She screamed again.

He backhanded her. "Enough!" He whipped out a rag and some cord. "I always thought you were a biddable thing, but unfortunately for both of us, I was mistaken. Still, you will be my wife, so until we are wed, you give me no choice." He tied the rag through her mouth and bound her hands before her. The moment he was finished, he flung open the carriage door.

As he climbed out, Tohru glimpsed miles of pasture land, barren under rays of the vanishing sun. Sir John motioned her to disembark, and for the moment she was too dismayed to think of escape. This was indeed no posting house—it was a barnyard. A dark, deserted-looking barnyard.

The driver's lantern showed the way to a door. Sir John's hand closed around her arm and he began hauling her toward the barn.

She tried to resist, but all she got for her efforts were a bruised arm and a torn hem. Inside, he shoved her onto a collapsed haystack and tied her feet at the ankles. "I had hoped we could have made an adventure of this," he said, lighting a second lantern on a table by the door, "something to tell our children one day, but your unreasonable attitude is ruining everything. Promise me you won't scream and I'll remove the gag."

Tohru nodded, and he loosened the rag to fall around her neck. She worked her tongue through her dry mouth. "Might I have some water?" she asked.

"In a moment. I have matters to attend." Leaving his lantern on the table, he slipped out into the night.

She struggled into an upright sitting position and took in her surroundings. The barn was little more than a roof with two walls, leaving wide parts of the front and back open to the elements. It appeared to have been deserted for some time. The few haystacks strewn over the dirt floor were the only signs of use, and their freshness seemed at odds with the rotting bits of hay stuck in the empty loft overhead. Probably Sir John or one of his minions had the hay hauled in advance, to give a softer sleeping surface.

As she looked, a boy darted around the last support post in the back.

Tohru tensed. The boy scuttled into a stall near where she was laying. She couldn't see his face in the darkness, but he wasn't dressed as a laborer. In fact, his waistcoat looked far too familiar...

"Miss Tohru!" Hiro hissed, coming close enough to the mouth of the stall for the lantern light to color his chestnut hair red as fire.

"What in heaven's name are you doing here?" she said, wincing inside at the edge in her voice.

"I wagered Kisa a sovereign I could sneak down to the gardens, steal a rose for you and get back to the schoolroom without anyone knowing I was gone, but when I went outside, I saw Sir John talking to one of our footman, and then bringing that shabby carriage around to the front of the house. It was all _very_ suspicious." His voice was smug. "And I was right, so it's a good thing I stowed away in the baggage trunk."

"The baggage trunk! What if you had been discovered?" Fear for her young friend began to fray Tohru's nerves. Yes, Sir John had struck her, but if she played by his rules, she was relatively certain he wouldn't hurt her again. Not physically. What she couldn't be sure of was how he would react to a nine year-old stowaway. "It was a foolish, _foolish_ thing to do, Hiro!"

"Bollocks," Hiro said, "how else are you going to escape?"

"With you far away from here."

Mulish determination shot over his face, and Tohru realized she'd misstepped. Telling Hiro she wanted him to leave so he'd be safe was the last order he would obey.

He jerked his head toward the lantern bobbing in the distance outside. "I'll climb up into the loft and clobber Sir John over the head, and you kick the driver's feet out from under him. Then I'll get him, too."

If she hadn't been so desperate, she might have laughed. "That sort of thing only works in novels." An idea sprang fully formed into her head. "If you're going to help me, you've got to get help. You're the sheep, right?"

"Ram," Hiro muttered.

"Then I must hug you. You can run faster on four legs than you can on two, and out here, a sheep won't attract the attention a well-dressed boy will. Quickly now." She held up her bound arms.

"But my clothes!"

"Leave it to me, now hurry!"

Hiro ducked under her arms.

She felt his warmth, then the choking puff of smoke. Thank God for the cover of darkness.

An overgrown lamb stood beneath her arms, the fuzzy nubs of his horns poking through the wool. Tohru pulled her arms from over his head and gathered up his shirt and pants. She looped them over his neck. "There, they're tied. Now go, Hiro, go!"

The lamb shuffled off through the barn and darted out into the night.

"What are you doing?"

Tohru's head shot around so quickly she strained her neck.

Sir John held his lantern higher over her head. "What are those?"

Her mind spinning, Tohru grabbed Hiro's abandoned waistcoat. "I was just wondering the same thing. A boy's waistcoat. Coat, cravat and shoes, too." She widened her eyes. "This isn't your first time kidnapping—is it."

Her captor's face twisted. "Don't be absurd. I've never seen those before in my life. They must be stolen."

With a stab of relief, Tohru realized he believed her dumb act. Probably because he'd never thought she was intelligent to begin with. She acquired a shake to her voice. "Is this barn used by thieves?"

"It had better not be." Sir John paced back to the front of the barn to peer once more into the gloom. "I've posted guards, so don't ruin my sleep with attempts to escape."

Tohru curled into the hay, hoping that if she looked harmless he would leave her alone. The knots around her wrists and ankles were secure. She could see nothing sharp to cut them.

"You needn't cower," he said from somewhere else in the hay. He must have trimmed the wick because the light had dimmed to a slight halo on his side of the barn. "I'm no savage to engage in deflowering you before the wedding night."

Deflowering...

She curled tighter into herself, her eyes squeezed shut. Fervently, she prayed to God that Hiro would be safe, that he would find help and bring the authorities to apprehend Sir John and his crew. She just had to trust in Providence to see her through.

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_**Next chapter...Kyo's point of view!**_

**Regency Lexicon:**

**yrs - **common abbreviation used in closing letters

Gretna Green - A town in Scotland just over the border from England where couples would elope. A marriage could be obtained without a license, a clergyman, a waiting period, or parental consent. The couple simply had to declare their intention to marry in front of witnesses.

**sovereign** - a gold coin worth a pound

**posting house** - a house or inn where horses were kept for travellers to rent when they needed a fresh change of horses

**deflowering** - er...I hope you all know what this means


	26. Providence Chooses Kyo

**You guys really don't like Sir John—and he deserves every bit of that ;-) Oh and unfortunately, I am not the romance author Michele Sinclair (she spells her name a bit differently) but I wish I was! I'm working hard to get published. **

**Go Hiro Go! (I think he heard your cheers). It's a bit shorter than some of the other chapters, but now it's Kyo from here on out, so I hope that's okay...**

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya

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_Chapter 26 – Providence Chooses Kyo_

The early morning mist curled through the hedgerows, disguising the ground with miles of fathomless white. Kyo slowed his horse and dismounted to step carefully through the foggy soup. With his mare Vashti following his lead, he checked the ground for rabbit holes and other hazards. No one of his acquaintance would describe him as a cautious man, but if he ever lamed a horse with his recklessness, he knew he couldn't live with the guilt.

His questing foot struck something soft. Frowning, he batted at the mist and reached down, half-expecting to find a fox carcass or deer. His hand closed around an arm.

He jumped back. Vashti tossed her head and stamped her feet, so he tugged on her bridle, stroking her nose and saying soothing words he didn't feel. "Shh...it'll be fine, girl. Just see, just—" He turned back to the body.

Except it wasn't dead. To Kyo's shock, a familiar face sat up through the mist and rubbed one hand over his eyes.

"Good God!" Kyo dropped Vashti's reins. "Hiro?"

Scratches laced the boy's face. His hair stood on end, and a bit of dried blood clung to the base of his neck where his torn and dirty shirt fell away from his collarbones. "Kyo," he said wearily, his lips parched. "I've found you. I told her I would get help and I did."

Kyo's heart gave a slow, painful thud. "Told who? Who needs help, Hiro?"

"Miss—" he rubbed his eyes again, "Miss Tohru. She's been abducted."

Fear shot through his veins and fused around his heart. "Where is she?" He dropped to his knees and seized Hiro by the shoulders. "Who's taken her? For God's sake, Hiro, tell me!"

The boy's eyes flashed. "I've been running all night," he snapped. "Stop shaking me and listen! Sir John Graydon kidnapped Tohru. I stowed away in his carriage and discovered he's taking her to Gretna Green, planning to marry her against her will. He had her in a barn last night, and he might even be on the road again by now."

"What barn? Where is it?"

"How should I know?" Hiro shoved Kyo's hands off his shoulders and tried to stand. He fell forward.

Catching the boy to hold him steady, Kyo said, "You had to have an idea where you were—you found your way back to Hundsford lands, didn't you?"

"I was in sheep form. I sensed home was in this direction, so that's where I ran."

"Sheep form!" Kyo dug a hand through his hair. "Tohru—she transformed you?"

"Yes, it was her idea."

Resourceful Tohru. God, he...he couldn't stop thinking about her, for all the bloody good it did him. And now this. "I would ask you to lead me back, but you're in no shape to travel." Besides, if Tohru had sent Hiro into the countryside all alone, she must have felt the boy was in greater danger staying with her. Bringing Hiro with him would undercut her wishes. "Can you at least point me in the direction?"

Hiro flung an arm up, pointing due east. "It was down a rutted drive. The barn's not visible from the main road, which was rather nice and smooth, now that I think of it."

"The Great North Road," Kyo said, his pulse picking up. It was the most common route from London to Gretna. If he rode cross-country in the direction Hiro indicated and didn't stop till he reached that road, he could check every rutted drive and barn for a mile in either direction. If he found it—no, _once _he found it—it didn't matter if Sir John was long gone, or only a few miles down the road. Kyo would have Tohru's scent, and he could track that anywhere.

"Let's get you inside." He grabbed Hiro under his arms and hefted him onto his horse, then swung up into the saddle behind him. With a click of his tongue and a nudge of his knee, Kyo turned Vashti back toward the Dower House. If Sir John so much as made Tohru cry, he would—

Kyo swore to himself. Tohru needed him calm, needed him to think. He couldn't afford to dwell on the violence he wished to inflict on every inch of Graydon's body...as pleasant a thought as that was. "Hiro," he said, urging Vashti to a faster pace, "if I get you some food and drink and have a fresh set of clothes fetched from the main house, could you be ready to travel in half an hour? In a carriage?"

"Why?" the boy demanded, suspicion rife in his voice. "You'll never catch them in a carriage."

"The carriage isn't for me. You're going to get word to the rest of the family. I can take Graydon and any unarmed goons myself, but if he's got firearm support..." Kyo gritted his teeth. Damn, this went against the grain. "I'll need help."

Hiro's head jerked up. He turned to see Kyo's face. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine," he snapped. "Can you go or not?"

"Why not send a servant as the messenger?"

"Because if the goddamned servant talks, it will be all over London by tomorrow, and Tohru's reputation will be shredded."

The boy squinted a moment, then his eyes widened. "Oh, this is rich."

"What?" Kyo growled, looking away. Beneath them, Vashti snorted.

"You like her."

"Of course I like her, everyone likes her."

Hiro smirked. He jabbed his elbow into Kyo's stomach. "No, I mean you _like _her. You have a _tendre_ for her. You _love_ her."

"That does it." Kyo reined in outside the Dower House front door. He swung out of the saddle and hauled Hiro down to stand beside him. "You are eating, you are drinking, you are changing clothes, and you are on your way. Got it?"

Nick Stobber, his only manservant, poked his head out the front door. "Back so soon from your ride, Master Kyo—oh!" He burst outside. "Young Master Hiro!"

"Yes." Impatiently, Kyo shoved the boy toward Stobber. "I'm leaving, and I don't know how long I'll be gone, so see that Betsy gets our young viscount here some breakfast. Then, I want you ride over to the main house for a fresh set of Hiro's clothes. Mrs. March will know what to get. Hiro needs to leave for London in one of the Hundsford carriages in no less than a half hour."

Stobber goggled at his employer for a moment, then schooled his features in his best impression of the Hundsford butler. "Very good, sir."

Feeling time slipping around him, Kyo ducked into the house. He seized his sword, a knife, and the horse pistols he kept loaded behind a tall clock, then threw himself back into Vashti's saddle. He wheeled her due east.

They set off at a gallop, racing through the fields he'd navigated so carefully not twenty minutes ago. The mist was starting to lift. _Damn_ he'd lost too much time already. He tried drawing Vashti into a less breakneck pace, but the horse seemed to read his true wishes. She went faster.

"No, Vashti-girl," he murmured, putting a little more pressure on the reins. "We have a lot of ground to cover, and I want you with me every step of the way."

Finally, the mare obliged him by settling into a steady gallop she could maintain for miles. Kyo rode with his knees flexed and his heart in his throat.

_Abducted._ His Tohru had been—no _dammit_, she wasn't _his_ anything. He had no claim on her. No claim and no right to claim anything more, not with his future prospects. And she...

He groaned. Resourceful, ladylike Tohru Honda, with her books and her big heart and soulful eyes had become his lodestar. When he was wild, she calmed him. When he felt ignorant, she enlightened him or confessed to sharing his confusion. When he set her at a distance, one look from her eyes demolished his walls, made him want to take her in his arms and hold her there forever—family, society and impending madness be damned.

If he had only the first two obstacles, he might have dared to ask her to marry him. He didn't care much for his family—and society could go hang—but there was always the madness roiling over his head like God's own thundercloud. Selfish bastard that he was, he might have risked even that if he thought she might accept him out of love.

But now that she _knew _of his horrible secret, how could he ever know her feelings didn't spring from pity? She was so considerate, so good...the only way to prevent her from martyring herself in wedlock was to never ask her in the first place. His Tohru would _not_ be chained for life to a slavering madman she didn't even love.

Humorless laughter rumbled in his chest. Slavering. Yes, most likely he would be the drooling sort—both the other cats had been. At least the second cat had the good sense to die early. Private care soaked up the first cat's fortune in a decade and he was eventually placed in an asylum.

Master Kazuma had taken Kyo to an insane asylum once. Kyo had been protesting his economics lessons, so Master insisted on showing him what could happen one day if he didn't learn all he could to build a massive private fortune. He might not have a fancy Eton and Oxford education, nor be endowed by more than a pittance from his mother's dowry, but he bloody well knew his way around the stock exchange. Between his frugal living, his own investing, and the commission he'd earned arranging successful ventures for his Uncle Shigure, Kyo could well afford someone to wipe his spit and give him sponge baths if he lived to be 100.

Tohru didn't need to be the one to do it. Tohru didn't need to do anything, except be alive, and happy, and—oh _God—_safe.

He bent low over Vashti's neck. Dear God, she had to be safe.

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**You all ready for this? ;-)**


	27. A Stall for Stalling

**Haha, Lilac Rose thank you for the flattery ;-) You guys all are so excited, it's awesome! (StripedFeather's zombie impersonation cracked me up). Just a bit of Kyo in this one-I'm excited to be getting so close, though of course the last two chapters are fighting me. But I'm working hard to stick to my schedule **crosses fingers**. If all goes as planned, the last chapter will be chapter 30.**

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

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Chapter 27 – A Stall for Stalling

The sun was the merest promise on the horizon when Tohru heard Sir John stir from his corner. She turned her face deeper into the lining of her jacket. The whole endless night she spent longing for sleep and praying for the poor boy she'd sent unprotected into the world. What had she been thinking? How could she have sent Hiro where anyone could assault him, anyone could subject him to abuses she could only imagine?

Far better to have kept him by her side, where at least she could shield him from the worst of Sir John's wrath. If only she hadn't let herself become so alarmed by his willingness to throw himself headlong into her captor's hands. She must have been desperate for rescue indeed.

Oh, she was a fool—a selfish, cowardly fool!

"Come on then. Time to get up." Her so-called fiancé nudged her foot with his boot. "You can sleep in the carriage."

Tohru thought quickly behind her closed eyes. If, by some miracle, Hiro succeeded in finding help, she had to remain as close to this barn for as long as possible. If she lay perfectly still, perhaps Sir John would let her "sleep" longer.

"I said, get _up_."

At the hard edge in his voice, Tohru pretended to startle awake. Best to try another tactic. "Where...?" she said, struggling to sit upright. Her hands and ankles were still bound, so she didn't bother trying to stand. Lantern light illumined the open front of the barn, casting Sir John in silhouette. She widened her eyes. "But it isn't yet dawn!"

"All the more reason to get on the road. We've a great deal of ground to cover." He must have been satisfied she wouldn't slip back to sleep because he turned around and began scattering the straw where he'd slept.

Clutching her stomach, Tohru gave way to a bit of inspiration. She groaned.

"What?" Sir John whirled. "What is it?"

"I—it must be...that is," she winced again, wondering if she would have to spell it out for him.

"Out with it, girl, I haven't got all day!"

For a man supposedly consumed by passion for her, he sounded more irritated than concerned. "It's my woman's time," she lied through gritted teeth, meaning every inch of the blush staining her cheeks. Ladies didn't speak of such things to gentlemen, but she was desperate and at least it wasn't true.

He went very still. She couldn't see his face, but judging by the silence in the barn, this was one possibility he hadn't considered. "You're sure?"

"I need food," she said, brazening right past his mistrust. "My stomach...needs food or the nausea will get worse."

He swore, a string of ugly words she'd only heard sailors use, and passed a hand over his eyes. "The next village is only a few miles away. Surely, you can ride that far."

Tohru moaned and fell back against the straw. "I couldn't bear being sick all over the inside of your—"

"Right," he said, striding out into the barnyard. She heard the sounds of men being kicked awake and a horse being saddled for riding. The moment the horse cantered off, Sir John stalked back into the barn's lamplight. "I've sent for food."

"Thank you," she said, as meekly as she was able.

"Aye, you'd bloody well better thank me." Then his word choice seemed to draw him up short. "Er...do you need anything else?"

"Rags and bandages. You could get them?" She decided to pretend he was a dear friend instead of a man she had grown to loathe. If he thought her stupid and docile, she could get away with so much more. "I would be grateful. I had thought I would need to wad up my second petticoat and—"

"That's enough," he said, and returned to the barnyard. Another horse was saddled, but this time, her captor didn't immediately return. For a moment, Tohru's heart leaped to think he might have gone for the bandages himself, but a second later she called herself a fool for even considering the notion. He was just keeping his distance, as any normal man would under the circumstances.

But he wasn't a normal man. Normal men didn't abduct women to marry them, especially when the man was a titled peer. Not for the first time, she wondered about Sir John's larger game. There had to be one.

The sun was well above the horizon when the first rider returned with some loaves and cheese for their breakfast. She tried to eat slowly, but with Sir John's baleful eyes shadowing her every move, she dared not chew too long between bites. She was unaccustomed to the bitter taste of ale, but since it was the only thing she had to drink, she choked it down anyway.

Sir John ate with more decorum than his men. Tohru could see the driver now, a stringy-looking fellow who moved with the rolling, wide-legged gait she remembered in the seafaring men back home. If they were indeed sailors, what were they doing so far inland, and in Sir John's employ?

There was a second man—the one who'd gone for bandages—but he hadn't returned yet. She said a brief prayer of thanks that Hiro had managed to avoid discovery with three men prowling the grounds last night. Now, if only he'd succeeded in finding help...

"There, you're finished." Sir John pushed off the bench where he'd been sitting and snatched the empty cheesecloth from Tohru's lap. "The moment my man returns—"

Hooves pounded into the barnyard.

Tohru's stomach tightened. It could be a rescuer.

Tack clinked as the rider dismounted. A shadow fell across the door, and a moment later, she saw the rider's face.

The rider's gaunt face.

She was going to be sick. This was the face she'd carried in her nightmares, the hollow cheeks and hooked nose of the man who killed her father. She stared, horrorstruck, as he gave her a little sneer and tossed a handful of rags into her lap.

"Couldn't find no bandages," he said. "You'll make do with that."

No bandages. Forcibly, Tohru shook off her fear. She could use the lack of bandages to prolong the delay. She _had_ to use it. She couldn't ride another mile knowing her father's murderer was standing guard. "Where can I go to do this?" she asked Sir John.

He pointed to the barn's only corner stall. "Does that suit you, my lady?" he said with mocking courtesy.

"I need my hands and legs untied."

Scowling, he knelt beside her and took a wicked-looking dagger to her bonds. The movement in the ropes aggravated the welts that had formed during the night. Tohru bit her lip and willed the pain to subside.

When she was free, he took her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. Tohru held her rags tightly and even submitted to being hauled bodily across the barn, but when Sir John stuffed her into the stall and parked himself just outside the short, closed door, she couldn't help protesting.

"You can't stand there while I'm in the privy," she said, fear and mortification driving her voice higher.

"I can and I will. I'm not stupid enough to give you a chance to escape."

"Guard the doors and windows then, but I need privacy!" She sucked in a breath. "Do you really want to smell the blood?"

His head snapped around, and then almost as quickly snapped back again. He moved away. "Fine then, but you make one move to escape and I'll have my men truss you like a chicken whether you've finished your business or not. They're inured to blood."

Murderers would be. But did Sir John know what the man he hired had been doing that night in Chideok, or was this some kind of sick coincidence?

She sagged against the wall of the barn. How long could she draw this out? She'd better take care of her real bodily needs first, then pretend to struggle with the rags.

When that was done, she waited in the stall, listening. Her pulse raced so hard it felt like only a few minutes had passed when Sir John lost his patience and shouted for her to hurry up. She reached under her skirts to make them rustle loudly. "This isn't exactly easy to do without bandages," she called.

He cursed roundly and lit into someone—the hook-nosed man?—for the new delay. At the evident lack of fear in Sir John's voice, she began to hope. Perhaps the baron didn't know his henchman was capable of murder.

But then the swearing stopped. Sir John appeared outside the stall, his back facing her. "Finish your business, Miss Honda. We leave _now_."

Icewater flooded in her veins. _Miss Honda. _She let her skirt fall, her drawers haphazardly stuffed with rags. "You mean 'Miss Havilland,'" she said quietly.

He whirled. "I—yes, of course."

She should pretend to accept it as a simple mistake. She couldn't. "You know who I am."

"Miss Havilland of the North Riding, Yorkshire." He said it impatiently, opening the stable door and pulling her out into the open space of the barn. "Soon to be Lady Graydon."

"And after becoming Lady Graydon, how long do I get to live?" Tohru couldn't believe she was saying these things, but she was tired of captivity. Tired of living in fear.

A scowl darkened his brows. "If you continue to talk such nonsense I may just abandon you, leave you ruined without the hope of marriage to rescue you."

"You would be known throughout England as a blackguard."

"You think I need to live in England? Now come!"

He yanked on her arm, but Tohru dug in her heels. She was sick of being dragged about, of being threatened, with no power to determine the direction of her life. A primal need to fight rose in her breast. "I will _not_ go with you one step farther!" she cried.

"Don't be absurd." An arm like a vise clamped around her waist. He hauled her up to dangle from his side like a misbehaving child. When she started to scream, he clapped a hand over her mouth and staggered out into the barnyard green.

Tohru couldn't breathe. She kicked at the back of his legs, twisting, flailing for some way to free herself from his painful grip. The carriage was getting closer. If he succeeded in locking her in there she was finished. He knew her real identity. He employed her father's murderer. He was somehow involved in her father's murder.

It wasn't marriage that awaited on the other side of the Scottish border. It was death.

Her vision blurred. Somewhere in the distance, thundering hooves pounded the earth, but Tohru couldn't even lift her head. She was fading…

A shock of air flooded her lungs. Sir John hauled her up against his chest. She saw a horse, a rider, a sword flashing—

Kyo stood before her, the narrow tip of his rapier pressed against Sir John's throat and a pistol trained on the nearest henchman. She wasn't sure how he'd dismounted and gained this position so quickly, but she could have sobbed with relief.

His eyes glowed like branding irons. "Release her," he said.

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**Regency Lexicon**

_truss_ - to tie up tightly; especially to arrange for cooking by binding the wings and legs of a bird/fowl

_rapier_ - a slender, two-edged sword, chiefly used for thrusting


	28. The Reckoning

**Kyo just stuck the tip of his blade against Sir John's neck, he didn't stab him, you pack of bloodthirsty Kyo-fans :-) But I think I probably wrote it vaguely and you've only been waiting for this FOREVER. Here you go!**

**I hope you'll forgive me for the delayed post...I wanted to make sure I had Chapter 29 ready to go soon after this one goes up. You'll see why...**

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya.

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**_Chapter 28 – The Reckoning_**

With the tip of Kyo's blade pressed to her captor's neck, Tohru heard Sir John swallow. "Two weapons, three men?" he said. "You've miscounted."

Kyo cocked the hammer of the pistol he held in his other hand. "No I haven't. Release her."

"And abandon a perfectly good shield? No, thank you."

"Listen to me, you pathetic excuse for a man," Kyo spat. "I would run you through now, except I'd rather not splatter Miss Havilland with your blood. But I will if I must. So either release her and fight me like a man, or I skewer you like the pig you are. The choice is yours."

The arm around her waist tightened. "Not much of a choice, since I don't have a rapier of my own with me."

With a nearly imperceptible shrug, Kyo leaned forward. The blade of his rapier slanted higher. "Tohru, close your eyes," he said quietly.

"What are you waiting for, you lackwits?" Sir John demanded of his men. "Attack him!"

But Kyo raised his voice. "Which of you will I shoot before you can reach me? Who wants to martyr himself to Graydon's cause?"

Tohru swallowed hard, but neither of the men in the barnyard moved. Not even the hook-nosed murderer.

A grim smirk curled Kyo's upper lip. "I don't think you're paying them enough."

"Fine." Sir John's shove sent Tohru sprawling into the dirt. Pain knifed through her wrists. She cried out, but in a moment she was back on her feet, scrambling far from the reach of anyone in the barnyard—Kyo included. She dared not get in his way.

"Yardley." Sir John drew off his gloves. "Fetch my rapier out of the carriage."

The hook-nosed man slid around the perimeter, his eyes fixed on the end of Kyo's pistol. Remarkably, Kyo moved to keep both men in his sights.

Tohru saw the other henchmen ease his hand into his coat. She sucked in a breath. "Kyo, the other one!"

The man broke into a run at her, a knife brandished in his hands. Kyo whirled and fired.

With a howl, the man plunged to the dirt. He seized his knee and writhed there, cursing Kyo's parentage and Tohru's virtue.

She saw Sir John's sneer. "Well, Sohma, now that your pistol is spent, perhaps you'd like to rethink this little exercise."

Carefully, Kyo reached into the folds of his greatcoat and withdrew a second pistol.

Tohru would have laughed if she could breathe.

"We can do this all morning," he said, "but as Miss Havilland can tell you, I'm not known for my patience. Sooner or later, we _will_ fight."

"Oh very well." Sir John stalked to where Yardley stood by the carriage door.

"And tie your remaining man to the carriage. I prefer my sword fights uninterrupted."

A black scowl came over Sir John's face, but the pistol trained on his heart made him obedient. When Yardley and the other henchman were tied to the carriage, he withdrew a gilded rapier. "A bit old-fashioned of you to prefer these to dueling pistols, but then tearing in here to rescue what amounts to soiled goods is nothing short of gothic, so I shouldn't be surprised."

Kyo looked like he tensed, but—to Tohru's complete surprise—he didn't rise to the bait. Casually, he tucked his pistol in the band of his trousers and shrugged out of his coat. "'Soiled goods?' " he said, tossing his coat aside.

Sir John took a few practice swipes with the rapier, fitting it to his hand. "I had your 'Miss Havilland' last night."

"That's a lie!" she cried.

Her captor shook his head. "She's just trying to preserve your good opinion, but I assure you Sohma, she was just like every other virgin: insipid and not worth the breaking-in. You're well-rid of her."

Kyo and Sir John were circling now, gauging each others' measure. "She was never mine to begin with," Kyo said through clenched teeth. His blade leaped out and met Sir John's with a _snick_. Their swords tapped once, twice.

Tohru bit her lip. Kyo didn't seem like himself. She'd never seen him fight, but she knew the way he threw himself headlong into arguments. He was passionate, impulsive, and not at all the sort of man who could circle patiently, waiting for his opponent to launch an attack. Was something wrong?

A muscle at his temple bunched above his jaw. Beneath his hair, sweat glistened, but his eyes were sure. The tip of his blade steady.

Sir John lunged.

Tohru swallowed her scream as Kyo parried. His counterattack was swift and short.

Sir John matched him. Kyo dodged some attacks, and parried others, but he never took the full offensive. Tohru didn't know much about fencing, but instinctively, she felt Sir John's advantage. It was more than just his height: he moved with a fleetness of foot surprising in a man his size. His aggressive, bold style seemed so much more commanding than the tight darts and blocks Kyo favored.

She would lose Kyo.

No! She refused to think that way. Losing him before had felt like dying, but that had only been goodbye. Losing him like this would mean living hell. But was there anything she could do to help?

Casting about the barnyard for a blunt object, she heard Sir John's mocking laughter. "All this effort for a woman. You really care for her—" there was a violent clash of blades, "—don't you. The grandson of an earl, panting after a smuggler's misbegotten brat. You're a disgrace to your class."

At that, her head shot up. Papa? A smuggler? He was lying. He had to be.

"I'm not the one so desperate to have her that I abducted her," Kyo bit out.

Their swords flashed in the brightening sunlight. Kyo was moving more aggressively now, turning Sir John in circles. The baron grunted. "I abducted her to shut her up, you fool."

His red hair damp against his temples, Kyo shoved Sir John's blade. "Shut her up about what?"

"If I tell you, that will hardly help me, will it?"

Suddenly, Tohru knew. Sir John was the head of a smuggling ring. That's why he employed men like Yardley, and why he had so much confidence that her father had been involved in the operation. She balled her hands into fists. "You had Papa killed!" she cried.

"I did not." Sir John ducked from Kyo's swing. "And if you go around the countryside trumpeting such nonsense, I'll have to do more than lock you away."

Kyo's blade flashed. He lunged forward, seizing Sir John's sword arm and pressing his own sword against the baron's throat. "You'll tell us everything. Now."

"Her mother was a runaway chambermaid, did you know that?" Sir John's eyes flashed malevolence in spite of the blade at his throat. "A smuggler and a chambermaid—I wonder what the high-and-mighty Countess of Hundsford would think to learn she's been foisting a gutter rat on society."

But Tohru couldn't afford to listen.

That horrible, terrifying murderer Yardley had somehow freed himself of his bonds. He stalked toward her, knife in hand. She couldn't scream for Kyo—he needed all his attention on Sir John.

She ran into the barn, desperate to find a weapon, but the infernal place had been cleared of farm tools. Just as Yardley breached the entrance, she picked up a stool. The legs weren't long, but they were something. She wielded it like a shield.

"Come on, girly. You and I've had this here coming for a long time."

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Tohru said, backing toward the barn's rear entrance. The hay underfoot tangled with her skirts. She had to move slowly.

Yardley pressed the advantage. "You jus' had to start yapping about us. Once we silence you, we'll get that Kazuma fellow you sicced on us, and then it'll be back to business."

There was a shout in the courtyard. Tohru hurled the stool into Yardley's head and dashed out through the back of the barn. When she reached the courtyard, she saw Sir John and Kyo engaged in a furious sword fight, all pretense of gentlemanly calm vanished. _Oh God. _She clung to the corner of the barn for support.

Then, with a slick twist of his wrist, Kyo knocked the sword from the baron's hand.

Sir John fell back, holding his hand up against Kyo's advance. "Just a moment, Sohma. That wench may not belong to our class, but you were born a gentleman. You can't kill me like this, not in cold blood."

"You're right." Kyo switched his sword to his left hand. "But I can do this." He drove his fist into Sir John's jaw.

The baron hit the ground and lay there. He did not get up.

Tohru gasped and Kyo whirled. He crossed the distance between them in a matter of paces, his eyes blazing. "Tohru, are you—"

Pain exploded through her shoulder. Her mouth fell open and the agony grew. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. With a wrench, her attacker jerked the knife from her back, and her world narrowed to the one thing she could still see: the eyes of the man she loved.

Raw fury twisted Kyo's face. He dragged his pistol out of his breeches and aimed it over her shoulder. The shot was deafening.

Tohru sagged to kneel on the ground. She choked on a sob, struggling to breathe with pain splitting her shoulder. "You came for me," she said.

"Tohru, oh God—" Kyo dropped his sword and fell to his knees in the dust. He began ripping off his shirt. "I should never have left you—here, take my shirt, press it there." He fisted his hand in his hair. "The bastard's knife is out so there's nothing to slow the bleeding. We have to get you to a surgeon, can you maybe...here, tie the sleeves of my shirt around your shoulder to bind it." His hands shook as he wound the shirt, talking as if she was strong enough to help.

But Tohru was fading. She couldn't speak, or even hold herself upright a moment longer. Sagging against the barn, she looked up into Kyo's eyes...his beautiful amber eyes...and wondered if he realized this was goodbye. A wistful sort of happiness came over her. "You found me."

"Don't." He captured her face between his hands. "There's nowhere on earth he could take you that I wouldn't find you. Just please," his voice broke, "don't give up now."

She forced air into her lungs. For him, she would fight the pressing oblivion as long as she could. But it was a fight she would eventually lose, and before she did, there was something he needed to know. "Kyo," she said, weakly now. "I—"

Something moved in the barnyard. She saw Sir John roll to his side and brace his hand against the ground. Slowly, he pushed himself up.

"What?" Kyo leaned close. "What is it?"

Her vision swarmed with lights. She had so little time, and so little breath left to speak. She had wanted her last words to Kyo to be _I love you_, but Sir John was on his feet now. He had his rapier, and he was coming closer. Hooves pounded in the distance.

Kyo pressed his fingers against her wound, blind and deaf to anything but her. Sir John moved quickly. He raised his sword.

This was it, then. Tohru drew one last, painful breath. "Behind you!" she rasped.

Kyo whirled.

Galloping hooves rose like a rushing storm. A rifle shot cracked the air.

Sir John fell at Kyo's feet—and a moment later, Tohru Honda succumbed to the darkness.

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**Don't kill me yet. Chapter 29 will go up on Wednesday, right on schedule, and Chapter 30 will go up Friday. I promise!**


	29. Xie Yu Rising

**Wednesday as promised! Just a little on the later side (I had to make some tweaks, and family kept interfering). I knew you guys would hate to have to wait long after the way I ended the last chapter, so I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy :)**

Disclaimer: Fruits Basket is the property of Natsuki Takaya.

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_Chapter 29 – Xie Yu Rising_

Voices murmured somewhere beyond the surface, beyond her reach. From the depths, she strained to understand the words as waves rolled over her, pressing her farther from the voices and their world.

"And I'm telling you, Akito can go to hell."

A throat cleared. "Then let's forget the proprieties for a moment. You need rest. Go—get some sleep, and we'll let you know if...there's a change."

"You mean _when_ she wakes up."

"Kyo," a third, more measured voice cut in. "You have to prepare yourself for the possibility that she may not return. Her heartbeat is very weak."

A strong hand seized hers. Tohru felt its warmth through the waves like a shock to her system.

"She _will_ live." His voice thrummed along her veins, curling around her like a buoy—dragging her up through the waters until she was close, so very close to seeing his face again.

But it wasn't enough. She had to fight for the surface, push her face up to the light. Her eyelids fought the piercing brightness, fluttering shut with every effort she made to forge past the pain.

The hand on hers tightened. "Tohru?"

Slowly, she opened her eyes. Only one face came into focus. His hair stuck out from his head in every direction, and his shirt gaped wide at the neck to bare one muscular shoulder. Shadows lent his face a drawn, haggard quality—but his eyes probed hers, powerful in their intensity.

She smiled. Her dry lips stretched with the effort. "Thank you for sitting with me."

He rasped her name. Oblivious to stares from the room's other occupants, he buried his face in the pillow by her ear and murmured something that sounded like a prayer of gratitude.

The sheer proximity of his face sent a thrilling ache through Tohru's ear and cheek. She looked from Dr. Hatori to Lord Shigure, but when she saw the housekeeper, Mrs. March, frowning like any chaperone, the sensation turned into a furious blush. Kyo's hand was still wound in hers, so she pressed her thumb against his fingers.

He sat up with a start. "What is it? What's wrong?"

All of a sudden, she remembered what Sir John had said—she was the daughter of a smuggler-vicar and a runaway chambermaid. He could have been lying, but the supreme disgust in his voice hadn't been faked.

Besides, it made sense. Her father always got on well with the sailors. He spent many hours down on the docks, even going out with the men in their fishing vessels—how naïve had she been? She'd never even thought to wonder how the tiny village of Chideok could afford to keep their vicar and his daughter clothed, housed, and fed in the style of the gentry.

She looked again at Lord Shigure's face. Miserably, she acknowledged she was little better than a street urchin, and yet here she was, the guest of an earl. She was even holding the hand of his nephew.

Her throat tight, she tried to pull her hand from Kyo's grip, but he held fast.

The door to the bedroom creaked open and Mr. Kazuma Sohma stepped into the room. "Ah," he said, running his fingers through his silver hair. "She's awake."

The skin of Tohru's scalp prickled. Mr. Kazuma didn't sound terribly happy to see her recovering. After his investigation into her father's murder, he probably knew all about her parents' origins.

"Yes, she's awake," Dr. Hatori said, relief apparent on his face. "Which means it's just the time for her to be getting some real sleep, and for the rest of us to do the same." He took his brother's arm and looked pointedly at Kyo.

Kyo looked at Tohru.

"It's okay," she said, though it took effort to speak. "Go on, please, get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."

Slowly, Kyo followed Dr. Hatori and the others from the room.

* * *

Daylight streamed like a benediction through the sheer curtains of the room. Tohru smiled as she recognized her bedroom from the first time she came to Hundsford, those many months ago. Whatever this day brought, she would always remember this family and the sense of belonging they gave her.

She heard a clicking sound from the other end of the room and rolled her head to see Mrs. March knitting by the fire. To her surprise, Kyo, Dr. Hatori and Master Kazuma sat with her. The doctor and Scotsman sat reading editions of the morning newspaper, but Kyo didn't look away from where Tohru. His brow relaxed.

The housekeeper looked up. "Oh, good morning, dear."

Kyo rose to his feet. He had bathed and looked much more rested. "Gentlemen, Mrs. March, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate a word with Miss Honda. Alone."

Dear God, the man was as subtle as a battering ram. Tohru smiled in spite of her embarrassment.

Mrs. March and Dr. Hatori exchanged uneasy glances, but Master Kazuma merely heaved a great sigh. "Come on then, all of ye. The lass's reputation canna get any worse, since that Graydon bastard ran off with her." He prodded the Hundsford housekeeper toward the door and used his formidable gaze to steer the housekeeper and doctor out behind her. Before he shut the door behind him, Kazuma cast Kyo a look. "Mind you tell her the truth."

"Yes, Master," Kyo said, but a thread of belligerence laced his voice. Master Kazuma seemed to accept the response, because he closed the door behind him.

Tohru was now alone with Kyo. Her heartbeat quickened.

But he did not cross to her bedside. Instead, he paced across the far end of the room, his body angled so she could see his face in profile, but not his eyes. His hands fisted in his pockets. "There's no time for a proper wedding. Word of your abduction has reached every corner of London by now." He gritted his teeth. "Your reputation is ruined and there is no question that you cannot leave this house without being safely married if you're to avoid being branded the latest whore of Babylon."

Her heart fluttered in her chest. She didn't much care what London society thought of her if it meant that maybe...unworthy as her station in life had made her...that maybe Kyo intended to...

"Apparently, Master Kazuma has agreed to marry you himself. Before he rode to our rescue—before he fired the the rifle shot that killed Graydon—he sent Yuki to obtain a special license from the Archbishop." His voice deadened. "You'll be wed to Master within the hour."

Tohru gaped at him, momentarily incapable of speech. Marry Master Kazuma? _Marry Master Kazuma?_ Saki Hanajima would not be too pleased with that, she thought rather hysterically.

For the first time since they'd been left alone, Kyo met her gaze, his eyes dull with despair.

That marshaled her tongue to action like nothing else. "I refuse."

He blinked. "What?"

"If I can't marry you, Kyo Sohma, I'll wed no one else."

His whole body seemed to go rigid. Something sparked to life in his eyes, but he shook his head as if to clear it. "You can't."

Fury seemed to lend new life to her weakened body. She pushed herself up higher against the pillows. "Why not?"

"Because..." he passed a hand over his eyes, "because I'll go mad in a few years, leaving you to—"

"No." She shook her head. "If you go mad, so be it, but at least I'll have had a few years of happiness with the real you. That won't dissuade me from marrying you."

"Then...you enjoy waltzing and—and grand balls. You deserve someone who can give you society life. I'm not suited to cravats or fine dinners—"

"Kyo," she interrupted again, a terrible weight forming in her stomach, "if you don't wish to marry me, please say so. I can't take these trumpery excuses, you know I can't."

He froze, eying her with something so like hunger she couldn't look away for fear she might be imagining it. Muttering "I shouldn't do this," he crossed the room in two strides and dropped to his knees at her bedside. He pressed his lips to the center of her palm. "God knows I wish with all my soul that I could marry you, but I can't hold you, Tohru," he said, his voice ragged. "I can't ever take you in my arms, I can't share your bed or give you children. You deserve a man who can love you in a way I can never—" His voice broke. He didn't continue, just clutched her palm to his mouth as a drowning man clings to salvation.

Tears blurred her vision. This was his real reason, then. It was a good one...but not good enough. "Your hand in mine is better than any other man's loving," she whispered.

His head shot up to meet her gaze. "You can't mean that."

"I do." Tohru turned her fingers so she could caress his stubble roughened cheek. "I love you, Kyo."

"Oh God." The words sounded ripped from his soul. He kissed her palm deeply. "Not like I love you, you daft, daft woman." They stayed like that a moment, for Kyo seemed content to kneel at her side, his face in her hand. When at last he opened his eyes, a martial light glowed in their amber depths. "You're daft and I'm mad. What a pair we make."

Laughter bubbled up from her throat.

He took the trailing end of her hair and twisted it through his fingers. A slight grin stretched over his face. "I expect Yuki _would_ be rather annoyed to be obliged to ride back to London to change the name on the special license, don't you think?"

He was going to marry her! Tohru's happiness burst like a flare over her heart and burned out just as quickly. Her parents... "Kyo?"

He began trailing kisses along the inside of her wrist. "Hmm?"

"What Sir John said, about my mother and father—"

"I don't care," he said, pushing the sleeve of her nightshift up to her elbow.

Every press of his lips made her heart beat harder. She swallowed. "Thank you, but your family...Master Kazuma is a distant relation to the earl and countess, but you—what if my marrying you brings disgrace to Hundsford?"

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Akito can—"

"Go to hell, I know."

She smiled in spite of herself when he broke off his kisses to look at her, startled. "You're teaching me bad words," she said.

He scowled. "I wish I could do a hell of a lot more than teach you bad words."

She gave in to temptation and ran her fingers once through his thick red hair. Oh, how she had longed to do that...

Kyo's eyes half-closed in an expression of bliss.

Still, she had to clear her conscience. "Does your family know?"

"Know what?"

"Kyo!" Tohru shook her head. "About my parents."

"How should I know? Do that again."

She grinned and obliged him by stroking his hair. "You really are as bad as a cat."

He shot her a dark look and went back to kissing the sensitive skin of wrist.

The warmth of his lips, the sensations he was creating...Tohru steeled herself against his all-too-delicious distractions. "Please, this is important to me. I can't get my hopes up any longer without admitting the truth to your family. Call them in."

That got his attention. "_All _of them?"

Tohru narrowed one eye. "What do you mean, all of them? Just whoever is here, of course."

"Oh, _just _them." Reluctantly, Kyo rose to his feet and walked to the door. "I'm telling you though, you're asking for a bloody circus," he called over his shoulder.

The door swung open and Lord Shigure practically fell into the room. With the agility of a man half his age, he caught himself and snapped upright, smiling brilliantly. "All finished?"

"You're a damned pervert, you know that?" Kyo said, then shifted his glare to the ranks of people crowding in the doorway. "You're in luck. She wants to speak to all of you."

Sohmas began filing into the room. Many Sohmas. So many Sohmas Tohru feared her weakened state was making her see people who couldn't be there. Hatsuharu and Rin stood with Yuki and Master Kazuma. Sir Ayame filed in to stand at Yuki's shoulder, while Miss Kagura and Dr. Hatori took up a position closer to Tohru's bed. There were several she didn't recognize, including a beautiful man with red-brown hair who stood wringing his hands off to the side of the room, and a younger-looking blonde gentleman with a cheerful smile. Finally, Hiro and Kisa joined their father, with Lady Akito taking her position at his side.

"They're all here?" she whispered, _"All_ of them?"

Kyo sank to the chair by her bedside. "Descended like locusts over the past few days," he said. "They were worried about you."

"_All_ of them?" she repeated

The blonde stranger stepped forward with a brief bow. "We haven't met yet, Miss Honda, but I'm Momiji Sohma. I believe I speak for most of us when I say the moment we heard our iron-willed countess overturned Bow Street trying to hire every last Runner to find you, we began praying for your well-being." He cast a sheepish glance around the room. "Then, when we heard you were ill...well, we had to come."

"Lady Akito _never_ panics like that," the beautiful man said with an anxious look at the countess.

Akito merely raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I did not panic, Ritsu, I was being efficient."

Here was Tohru's opportunity. Could she bring herself to disappoint all of them? She had to do it—if she didn't admit the truth now, it would be so much worse if they found out later. "Thank you for your concern," she said, raising her voice to carry. "This family has become so important to me, that I feel I can't trespass on your hospitality any longer without telling you the truth. By rights, I shouldn't even claim to be a gentlewoman."

The family frowned their confusion. Only Master Kazuma glanced at the floor. He knew. Tohru bit her lip. Just as well she'd decided to tell the truth now.

"My father was a vicar, it's true, but he was involved in a smuggling ring with Sir John. I don't know how he met my mother, but she was evidently a chambermaid who ran away from her post." Her throat tightened, but she forced her way past her tears. If they saw her crying, they would feel obligated to comfort her by agreeing to her marry Kyo, suppressing their true feelings. "I love Kyo, and though by all rights I should be beneath his notice, he has expressed his willingness to marry me. But I won't do it if you—his family—feels it would harm Hiro and Kisa's future prospects. Or those of any other children in this family."

Kyo sat beside her in silence, his anger taut beneath the surface. She could tell he wanted to speak, but he was letting her have her way.

After a moment of stunned silence throughout the room, the earl managed to shake himself to life. "I do believe she just asked our permission to marry Kyo. Unconventional girl."

"I told you you're daft," Kyo muttered at her side.

Akito flipped her fan open and drew it across the lower half of her face. Her dark eyes bored into Tohru's from across the room, glancing occasionally up at her husband. Was she waiting for him to speak?

When all he did was shrug, she snapped her fan closed. "I have to do everything." With a rustle of skirts, she stepped forward. "As long as we're dumping our secrets all over the floor, I might as well confess that the whole reason I took you to London in the first place was to get you away from Kyo. You were nameless, penniless, and in a fair way to falling in love with him. He," she rolled her eyes, "was clearly already in love with you."

Tohru gasped and looked over at Kyo. His cheeks were nearly as red as his hair.

"Rough and wild as he can be, he's still my nephew, and I didn't approve of you for his wife. Now, I confess, I dislike the match for a different reason." She leveled her gaze at Kyo. "He doesn't deserve you."

"But my lady!" Tohru cried. "He's kind, considerate—"

"You've been a good influence," the countess interrupted dryly. "At any rate, you are as much a part of this family now as if you were born to it. If marriage to Kyo is what it will take to keep you with us, then so be it."

The shocked silence shattered with a burst of cheers. Lord Shigure took his wife's face in his hands and kissed her. Hiro glared at Kyo, but gave Tohru a thumbs up. Sir Ayame pulled Yuki to his chest and swung him around while Hatsuharu laughed. Rin swatted him on the head, but a slight smile played over her lips. Tohru had noticed they were holding hands. Ritsu was smiling broadly and Mrs. March dabbed tears from her eyes. Momiji even did a little dance with Kisa. Only Miss Kagura seemed disappointed, but when Dr. Hatori put his arm around her shoulder she looked up at her father and gave him a rueful smile. Thank heavens the girl's heart hadn't been deeply engaged.

Master Kazuma looked profoundly relieved.

A hand tightened around hers, and shyly, Tohru turned to see Kyo. To see her fiancé.

But he was looking at her strangely, and suddenly she felt something tightening in her chest. It was painful, almost searing. The Sohmas stopped talking to stare as light crept from her feet and hands to coalesce in her chest. With a rip, a tight, bright ball burst from her chest. Slowly, it rose into the center of the room. Tohru gasped and fell back into the pillows, panting. She still felt like herself...but what was that _light?_

Silence fell like death through the room, as the light pulsed brighter. "I am Xie Yu," it said.

Everyone shrank from the light. The words sounded foreign, but somehow Tohru could still understand.

"I am the girl whose death left your family cursed to live half-lives as foreign entities in your own land," the voice continued. "As decades have faded into a century and more, I have observed this family—most recently I have been watching from within this girl. The Sohmas have been vile, arrogant creatures for years, and it wasn't until _this_ generation that I began to consider freeing you. I was not convinced though, until I witnessed your treatment of Miss Tohru Honda."

The light drifted back and hovered protectively over Tohru's head. "This young lady your ancestor Charles Sohma would have despised for her poverty and station, and yet you took her in. You gave her employment when she asked for it, you welcomed her as a friend, and in spite of your motives, you launched her into the highest levels of this society as a true and honored member of the family. Some of you have even risked your lives for her.

"Best of all, now that you know her truly low origins, you want her as one of you all the same. The Sohma family has _earned my forgiveness_."

Then, with a sound like shattering glass, the light burst through the room. Some of the Sohmas cried out, as if something was being wrenched from inside them.

Kyo doubled over the side of Tohru's bed, groaning and clutching his chest. She could see his teeth griding against the pain, his eyes squeezed shut, and in a panic, she reached out to touch his hair. "Kyo!"

Twelve different colored lights emerged from the Sohmas and coalesced into one ball, swirling like a mounded rainbow. A thirteenth light rose from Kyo's back. It seemed to cling there, clawing at his muscles, wrenching cries from his chest until Tohru couldn't take it any longer. "Get _out_!" she shouted.

The light snapped free.

The rainbow ball sucked it in. It pulsed once, twice, and then vanished.

No one spoke.

Slowly, Kyo pushed himself up from the bed, his fingers fisted in the covers. His back heaved with the force of his breathing. He stayed there a moment, then turned his head to meet Tohru's eyes. A desperate question hung between them, their hope too fragile to dare.

"Well go on then," Akito scoffed from across the room. "You might as well test it out."

Kyo's glance swung the length of Tohru's blanketed body, scorching in its intensity. He met her eyes once more, and whispering her name, he pulled her up from the bed and into his arms.

He smelled wonderful. Somewhere in the background, the Sohmas cried out their joy, but Tohru could hardly hear their celebration. She was surrounded by Kyo, just Kyo—and no puff of smoke. She buried her face in the warmth of his neck, reveling in the feeling of his strong arms clutching her to his chest, his thumb tracing her skin through the fabric of her nightgown. He sank back to the chair and arranged her in his lap, then brought his free hand up to her cheek. "They're all watching," he murmured, his lips a breath from her own.

She couldn't even bring herself to blush. "I don't care," she whispered back.

He claimed her lips with his, kissing her with every ounce of the passion he'd thought he could never express. He was hungry, demanding, and Tohru thrilled to the power she felt encircled in the arms, of the man who loved her so much that for her sake he'd been willing to lose her to another. "I love you," she gasped between kisses.

Kyo pulled his head away. "Say, Yuki," he shouted over to where the Sohmas were still hugging each other and crying. "Go get that special license amended to state my name with Tohru's."

Yuki was smiling—actually smiling—with the joy of freedom, and he didn't even protest. He darted out the door. Tohru had a suspicion he was also anxious to pay a call in Portman Square to see a certain Miss Arisa Uotani.

But Kyo wasn't finished yet. "Momiji, think you could marry us when Yuki returns?"

Tohru looked at him in surprise.

"Momiji goes by the Reverend Sohma when he isn't traveling through Europe with his violin."

Momiji stepped out of the writhing mass of family members. "I would be honored—though, I would be remiss if I didn't advise you to put Miss Honda back in her bed now that we know the curse has been broken."

"Then you've fulfilled your obligations," Kyo said, and tightened his grip around Tohru's waist. He grinned down into her eyes. "Hmm...oh yes." He pressed a hot kiss into her lips, "I love you, too. Now, less talking, more kissing."

Tohru was only too happy to oblige.

* * *

**:-D Epilogue coming...**


	30. Epilogue

**To all my dedicated reviewers-****I hope you enjoy this epilogue, and that it seems like a fitting end to a story that grew way longer than I ever intended it to go. What a ride :-) **

**Disclaimer: Fruits Basket and its characters are the property of Natsuki Takaya.**

* * *

_**Epilogue**_

"But Papa!" The girl bounced on her father's bed, careless of the way the motion sent her long brown curls crashing into each other. "Hiro _promised_ he'd come in time for your party."

Kyo frowned into his dressing mirror and gave his cravat an impatient tug. "That's enough, Isabelle. His valet said he was detained at school, and there's nothing I can do about that."

Isabelle hopped from the bed. She pulled at the tail of his coat of blue superfine to straighten it, then flopped into a chaise and flung her arms wide. "Then when will he come?"

"Hm..." Kyo said, turning slowly to face his daughter. A mischievous smile curled over his face. "Maybe when you stop whining?"

Isabelle knew that face. She squealed as her father pounced and began tickling her mercilessly. "Papa!" she gasped, giggling and shrieking with all her breath.

The bedroom door swung open. "Kyo!" Tohru rustled into the room, gowned in green silk and propping her hands on her waist. "Oh no, look at Isabelle's hair! Chloe will have to get to work fixing it immediately."

Still laughing, Kyo climbed off the chaise and pulled his daughter to her feet. "She got a good start ruining it earlier when she was flopping about, complaining about Hiro's message. I believe our girl has a bit of a crush on him."

"I do not," the seven year old said hotly, her eyes flashing in a direct imitation of her father's. "He's my cousin."

"A once-removed cousin." Tohru smoothed the top of her only child's hair and herded her toward the door. "Go on then. See if you can persuade Chloe to repair your hair. _Apologize_." When Isabelle was gone, Tohru turned back to Kyo. She folded her arms across her chest.

"What?" he laughed.

Tohru sighed and crossed the room to work on his neckcloth. "Your cravat is crooked, for starters."

"There's a reason I never wear these things." His hands drifted up to take hold of Tohru's waist. "And _you_ like me out of them." He watched with pleasure as twin crimson stains bloomed over her cheeks. Eight years of marriage, and he could still make his Tohru blush.

"Now is not the time," she said breathlessly, finishing with his cravat and smoothing his coat over his shoulders. "The earl and countess could arrive at any moment."

Kyo lowered his head to nuzzle the bare skin at her neck. "I can be quick."

Tohru laughed. She swatted him over the head and danced just out of reach. "That will be the day," she said with a saucy smile. With a flounce of her skirts, she swept from the room, leaving Kyo with the opinion that his clothes were definitely too tight.

But not even that could sour his mood. Good God, how could he mind anything now that his thirtieth birthday was here and he was still as sane as the next man. The day the curse broke, he'd been freed from the threat of the cat's madness, but there had still been his mother's derangement to hang over his head. Time and again, Tohru had told him not to worry, that his mother had been overset, that hers had been a madness of circumstances, not of blood.

But until today, Kyo had never dared to believe she was right.

Outside, carriage wheels clattered over the cobblestone drive. Kyo checked his reflection one more time—decently presentable—and strode out of the bedroom. He took the spiraling stairs with ease, and before his guests could alight from their carriage, he took his place at Tohru's side as if he'd been there all morning.

The new arrivals weren't the earl and countess. Instead, Mr. and Mrs. Hatsuharu Sohma stepped out of the carriage, their pack of children following quietly behind them. There were five of them, ranged in age from six to one, and how Rin could keep them and her husband in line the way she did boggled Kyo's mind. He and Tohru had only one child—Isabelle—and it was all he could do to keep her from climbing trees without him.

If she climbed _with_ him, of course, that was fine.

"Rin!" Tohru reached out to take the other woman's hands. "What a treat to have you and your family back from France in time for Kyo's birthday. If only Yuki and Arisa could have made the trip as well."

Carefully, Rin unpinned her high-crowned hat and handed it off to a footman. Her smart traveling gown of burgundy wool seemed to fit more loosely around the waist than was the fashion. "America is a good deal farther away than France."

Kyo watched the women herd Haru's flock of three boys and two girls up the stairs with them. Since Kyo and Tohru married, and Yuki had made a match of it with the former Miss Uotani, he and Yuki had forged a sort of peace between them. Of course, peace was much easier to maintain with an ocean between them and only the occasional letter with which to irritate each other.

Their living choices were a bit was odd, of course—everyone thought Kyo would have been the brother more suited to the less restricted American way of life, but he and Tohru couldn't imagine leaving the wilds of Scotland for any other place.

As for Yuki, he seemed to relish his newfound freedom.

"They're a veritable herd, aren't they?"

Shaken from his thoughts, Kyo turned to see Haru's smug smile. The man clasped his hands behind his back and rocked evenly on his heels. He wore his unique white and black hair neater now, but eight years had changed his appearance in few other ways. Recalling the loose fit of Rin's gown, Kyo narrowed his eyes. "Is your wife pregnant _again_?"

Haru laughed. "You're getting rather observant in your old age. Yes, four months along. I'm surprised Tohru didn't say something the moment Rin stepped into the house. Women can sense these things like hawks."

"What are you trying to do—restock the army?"

His cousin glanced to the upstairs door where Tohru had taken his family. "No, we just can't seem to help ourselves."

A squeal rent the stillness of the house. "Papa!" Isabelle came tearing down the mahogany staircase, her ribbons neatly tied and her curls bouncing in fresh spirals against her back. "Hiro's coming—I could see him from my room—he's riding up the drive!"

And that was all the explanation Kyo got before his daughter burst like a squall through the front doors and hurtled down the drive.

A heartbeat passed. Haru glanced at Kyo. "I don't suppose you're going to stop her from making a cake of herself."

"It wouldn't do any good." He grinned at his cousin. "Though I would like to see Hiro's reaction. Shall we?"

Haru bowed. "I thought you'd never ask."

The two men strolled down the drive, their long strides covering the distance only a few yards slower than Isabelle had in her mad dash.

Seventeen-year old Hiro reined his horse just shy of trampling the girl, and a moment later both Kyo and Haru could hear him yelling at her for getting in his way. They heard the teary note in her voice when she responded, and before they could get any closer, Hiro dismounted. He knelt before her, ruffled her curls—Chloe's work, ruined again—and swung her onto his back for a ride.

A groom hurried over from the stables to take his horse in hand.

"I'll ask you to set my girl down, boy," Kyo growled, coming to a halt with his hands folded over his chest.

Isabelle flashed him a rather vicious scowl. "Don't, Papa, I'm fine." She tightened her hold around Hiro's shoulders. "Go on, Hiro, don't stop."

The future earl of Hundsford smirked at Kyo and strolled right past the two men on his way into the house.

Haru let out a low whistle. "I'm glad my oldest girl is only three. That Isabelle of yours is a minx."

What the girl needed was a sibling or two to keep her grounded in childhood instead of wanting to imitate the adults all the time. She was growing up too quickly for Kyo's peace of mind.

But of course in the years since Isabelle's birth, he and Tohru hadn't been blessed with any more children. They were fortunate to have Isabelle—a true joy on top of all the the other blessings they'd received since they first met nearly eight years ago. Kyo turned back up his drive, taking in the rough stone edifice of his house and the way the trailing ivy warmed what might have looked as imposing as the fortress it had once been.

He'd purchased the place as a wedding present for Tohru. No elegant London house, or Greek-revival mansion in the south of England would suit his bride. She wanted a modest house—stone, perhaps-in the countryside where Kyo had known the most happiness.

He'd ignored the modest bit and run wild on the stone, buying a small 15th century castle and having it modernized with all the comforts money could buy. Till the day he died, he would never forget Tohru's reaction when he finally drove her to see the home he'd found for her. She'd gasped, then swatted his arm, then started laughing so hard tears streamed from her eyes.

But when her tears of laughter turned to real tears, they nearly ripped his heart right out of his chest. He'd pulled her to him and asked her, begged her to stop. He said he could sell it, find something else, and only then did she turn her face up to meet his gaze. Perfect happiness shined in her eyes. "I finally have a home," she whispered, "and it's perfect."

* * *

After the celebratory dinner, once the men had enjoyed their port and rejoined the women for the remainder of the evening, the nurses brought the children back downstairs to cavort with the adults. In addition to Haru's clan, Kisa had her infant son, and Saki her five- and six-year old daughters. Kagura's twin boys were fresh out of leading-strings, ready to wreak whatever havoc they could. As the oldest of the younger generation, Isabelle eschewed the company of her baby cousins and instead plopped herself down wherever Hiro chose to sit. Or stand.

Lady Akito corralled the younger children to sit at her feet. From his position by the fireplace, Kyo watched her lecture them on behaving themselves in the company of their elders. Just like a mother hen—albeit one who packed a sharp bite and more pride than a rooster into her slim frame. He smiled, amazed that he could remember those same lectures directed at himself and not feel resentful. Growing up, breaking free of a centuries-old curse and marrying the love of one's life could have that effect, he supposed.

At Kisa's urging, Momiji took up his violin and began to play a country dance. Isabelle hopped up from her chair. She clapped her hands and tried to get Hiro to join her in a dance, but he was talking with Master Kazuma and couldn't be persuaded. Exasperated, Isabelle turned to Melisande, Saki's eldest daughter, and swung her into an imperfect but exhuberant dance around the room.

A pale hand slipped into the crook of Kyo's arm. He looked down in time to see Tohru lean her head against his arm. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, no." She sighed. "I was just thinking how lovely it is to have friends and family gathered under our roof."

But he heard the tired note in her voice. Kyo slipped a hand around her waist for support. "The birthday planning and providing for all these guests has worn you out. I'll see that they leave tomorrow."

She squeezed his arm. "You'll do no such thing, Kyo Sohma. I want plenty of people around tomorrow to celebrate my surprise."

"A surprise?" He tugged her close against his side, careless of who might see. "Have you been keeping secrets from me, Mrs. Sohma?" he murmured in her ear.

The minx peered up at him through her eyelashes. People might wonder where Isabelle got her spunk, but Kyo knew he had very little to do with it. Tohru's spirit might disguise itself behind a sweet nature and a deeply ingrained sense of justice, but it was there all the same.

"Only a birthday secret," she said.

"A birthday secret! Then hadn't you better tell me first?" Kyo was trying to keep his tone light, but curiosity had him in its grip. He simply had to know the reason for that glitter in her eyes.

"Very well, but don't tell anyone else yet."

"I promise."

"Okay." Tohru looked down, and a furious blush rose over her cheeks. "I'm—that is, do you think Isabelle will mind having a little brother or sister?"

Kyo went very still. She was too sweet, too kind to toy with him if it weren't true. "You're..." He trailed off, unable to form the words in his suddenly dry throat.

She nodded. "I had Hatori confirm it when he arrived this morning."

"But after so many years, when we tried, and tried..."

"He said sometimes it happens when the parents least expect it." Worry filtered into her eyes. "Do you mind so much?"

"Mind?" His voice broke on the word. He laughed. "Mind? My God, Tohru, I'm so happy my voice is cracking like a thirteen-year old's." He couldn't help it. He dragged her up against his chest, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. "This is_—you_ are the best birthday present ever."

"Kyo Sohma," the countess's voice rang through the room. "That is _no_ way to behave around children."

Momiji's violin stopped. Isabelle spun to see her parents kissing and made a face.

Ruefully, Kyo set his wife back down on her feet. All eyes were on them—even Kisa's baby son watched from his papa's arms.

Tohru laughed. "I knew you couldn't keep this a secret."

Several nervous smiles passed around the room, but only Lord Shigure asked the question. "Kyo, do you and Tohru have something to share?"

"Oh very well." Tohru stepped forward. "I was planning to tell Isabelle in private, first, but I suppose now is as good a time as any." She took her daughter's hand. "Sweetheart, you're going to have a baby sister or brother in about seven months."

Excited whispering filtered between the children and adults.

"Me? Really?" Isabelle's eyes grew very wide. "I'll have sister, like Melisande has?"

"Maybe. I hope that's not too upsetting."

The girl rolled her eyes, a gesture she must have learned from Hiro. "How could that possibly be upsetting? I'll get to play with her, or dress her up, or name her, or—"

"Let's not get carried away now, and remember, it might be a boy." As she spoke Tohru stepped back beneath the shelter of Kyo's arm.

"But I thought you couldn't get another baby."

Kyo decided not to correct Isabelle on the 'get' part. "Life is full of surprises, my girl." He gave her a wink in an attempt to clear the mist in his eyes. "And trust me: you never get used to it."

**-The End-**

* * *

**Wow. All finished :-). It's time I got back to revising my latest novel and sending it out to agents in an effort to get published, so I won't be writing any more fanfiction stories anytime soon. I thought I could do both, but I got so caught up in this that there just wasn't time (or creative energy) to do both. I've had so much fun reading your reviews and interacting with you, and I want to thank you all for the great experience this has been. You're the best.**

**If anyone is interested in beta reading my novel (YA romance, drama, adventure in an exotic setting), send me a message and I'll send a brief, back cover-type blurb. That way you'll know what it's about and if it sounds like something you'd be interested in reading. Your opinions there would be AWESOME. **

**Either way, thanks. **** *Hugs* Michelle**


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